Into the Rabbit's Den
by FavoriteCharacter
Summary: Someone really should have warned the YYH gang that Hanshoku were a little different than most demons. Instead, they had to figure it out all on their own. Keeping track of Sagaku is annoying, but that's what friends are for, right? HieiXOC
1. Called Together

Hiei wasn't admitting it out loud, but he had missed the spirit detective, the fox, and the complete and total baka. Sitting at the window was bringing back detestable memories. And the only reason they were detestable was because he had come to enjoy them. Kurama was listening to the other two with a pleasant smile on his face, and Yusuke and Kuwabara were both trying to tell him about their lives without breathing, each talking louder than the other.

Botan peeked into the room, smiling broadly. She had already greeted all of them personally. Even Hiei. Koenma was with her this time. He smiled too, his eyes crinkling and his lips curving up behind his binky. He had recently taken to appearing only in his teen form – he explained it came with the territory. He was taking over most of his father's work.

"I'm sorry to call you guys all back here," Koenma sat on top of his desk, "but I am happy to see you all again."

"Well, get to the point!" Yusuke demanded. "We're all happy to see you too, except for maybe the shrimp, but you didn't just call us here for a reunion!"

"You're right. It's just that, with the rebels all over the place, defenses are stretched thin. It wouldn't be so bad, but we found a warren the other day, and we need to protect its inhabitants. Special breeders, you'll get the information about it later." Koenma waved his hand as if it were unimportant.

"A warren?" Kurama asked. "A demon's harem?"

"Well, not quite a harem. But yes, actually. I can get you all there, easily, and they will all be cooperative. We just need to get them here safely before they're used." Everyone blinked at the awkward statement.

"Used…like…how people are used in harems?" Kuwabara stumbled over his wording. A sweat drop appeared on Koenma's face, realizing how he had made it sound.

"No, no! This isn't about their virtues. It's about the breeding!"

Sagaku spun her hair around her finger, bored senseless. Her sisters were all crowded in the room with her, whispering and looking about nervously. Not that she wasn't nervous; she was just a little more in denial than they were.

"Papa said they'd be here to help soon." Usagi comforted her younger sisters. Usagi was the oldest, with long blonde hair. She was comforting and generally wise. Sagaku spent the most time with her. They all got along with each other – it was in their nature, after all – but Usagi was the easiest to relax around. She watched out for the rest of them as best she could.

"When's Papa gonna be back?" Youji asked, slinking up to Usagi. Usagi wrapped her arm around the youngest of them and smiled soothingly.

"He's going to meet us there. The guards will get us to Papa, baby, don't worry." Youji snuggled closer to Usagi, wrapping her arms around her sister's voluptuous waist. Sagaku sat up from the flattened mattress and tweaked Youji's nose teasingly, smiling warmly. Youji was only six. She shouldn't be in this position.

"How much longer until we're safe, do you think?" Sagaku whispered to Usagi. Her nerves were quivering, even if she was bored.

"Hopefully soon."


	2. First Rescue

(AU: Obviously I don't own the YYH characters, just the Warren ones. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing on _fanfiction_ =P)

* * *

**An Easy Escape**

"I thought he said the portal would take us there!" Yusuke griped, kicking the ground aimlessly. Hiei remained silent, his eyes flitting from side to side. Kurama found the entrance first, though.

"Here," he said, sounding puzzled, "it's in the ground." And sure enough, there was a small, wooden entrance only inches from the portal. Branches and leaves covered it effectively. They had walked out from the portal into the remnants of what had once been an old forest. He pried it open. It was heavy, but silent. "It's like a real warren…like a rabbit warren." Kurama mused. He climbed down the opening, crouching to squeeze into the hallway, and realized he was very right. The walls were dirt, and the hallway was nothing more than a tunnel. He sniffed the air experimentally. "This way," he said, and then took off with the others following.

Usagi stiffened, her nose twitching.

"What is that smell?" Sakura wrinkled her nose and reached out to grab at one of her sister's hands. The younger ones all cluttered together.

"Sagaku?" Usagi asked, trying not to sound afraid.

"It's a fox." Sagaku stood up, standing in front of Usagi. They were exactly the same height, but their builds were very different. Usagi wasn't a fighter. Sagaku wasn't either – her instincts were screaming at her that flight was much preferred to fight – but Usagi was better at watching over their siblings. The fox in question paused outside the thick wooden door. His sensitive nose interpreted the scent for him.

"It is a warren, literally." He grinned at his friends, and then opened the door. What he didn't expect was the fist that nailed him in said sensitive nose. Sagaku twisted to kick him, but lost her balance when her sisters all panicked behind her. He had a hand over his nose and looked at her ruefully with large, emerald eyes. She practically wilted under his look.

"Uh oh," she groaned, "you're not a fox."

"Not most of the time," Kurama agreed with the guilty demoness, "but sometimes. We're supposed to escort you guys to Koenma and your father."

"The guards!" Usagi caught on, pleasantly surprised that they could finally leave the dingy room. "Come on girls, quickly, we have to go!" The younger siblings scrambled around, finding other siblings to cling to as they all crowded around the two girls in front. Sagaku ended up with Sakura and Youji clutching her hands. She could see two other men peering around the not-quite-fox's shoulders, into the brown and grey room. She hustled the two girls in front of her, and the fox moved out of the way to allow them to move. Hiei was busy staring down the tunnel. He could feel another demon moving towards them, maybe several. Kuwabara was already leading the girls down the tunnel, to the entrance.

"Company." Hiei warned Kurama. Sagaku heard, pushing her last three sisters out of the room and following behind them, keeping Sakura and Youji in front of her, with the rest of the girls. She turned to the fox.

"Do you need help?" She asked quietly.

"We're supposed to keep you girls safe." He smiled comfortingly at her, his hand on her elbow as he led her down the tunnel after the others.

Hiei and Yusuke waited for the demons to approach. Koenma had explained the entire dilemma as they were preparing to leave: demons had infiltrated the usually safe warren. Someone had leaked out that Jitsu had a number of daughters, most old enough to be within breeding age. Breeder demons were rare, mostly because of how they were used and treated. Jitsu had kept his daughters safe as long as he could, but while he was out getting supplies demons had sniffed out the warren. Now he was trapped outside, and the breeders were trapped inside. Luckily Koenma had still had a reserve. The demons paused out of reach, giving Hiei and Yusuke a chance to catch up to the rest of the group, moving slowly out of the warren. The younger girls were already out, and only a few were still scrambling out of the entrance. Sagaku was one of the ones left, and she was boosting her sisters out of the high hole. She had just clambered out herself when the first demon decided it would rather risk injury than losing all the girls. Yusuke cleared it in one hit. It wasn't a powerful demon.

"Through the portal quickly, please." Kurama ordered. That demon had been weak. Three others were getting closer, and they weren't.

"Come on, come on." Usagi held some of her sisters' hands, pushing them through the portal quickly as commanded. The little girls went compliantly. Sagaku kept her eyes narrowed as the four men tensed.

"Hurry!" The tallest one, with curly orange hair, pushed her through, so fast that she stumbled over Usagi who had just gone through herself. The portal was sealing behind them, the four men climbing through in a hurry as well.

"The mission was a success?" Koenma asked, his way of wanting to know that they weren't injured.

"We would have had a fight if we were there any longer, but the highest ranking demon in the area was a B, at best." Yusuke grinned errantly at the leader. "Quick and easy, just the way I like it."

"Don't lie, Yusuke. You like fighting." Botan teased him. It was true.

The girls all crowded together, regrouping now that they were safe.

"Thank you," Usagi bowed to the men and Botan. Sagaku and Mazui followed suit. The other girls just started at the men with wide eyes. "Thank you for rescuing us." Usagi repeated her gratitude, her deep blue eyes cast down in respect.

"Thank your father. He sent us word of your predicament." Botan giggled at the girls. "I'm Botan, I work for Koenma too." She smiled happily at the girls.

"I work for the spirit world," Koenma informed them, "and these men work for me. This is Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke." He said, introducing them in order. They all nodded in greeting, with the exception of the short fire apparition.

"I am Usagi, and these are my sisters." Usagi swept her hand to include the rest of them. Some of the younger girls clamored forward, wanting to introduce themselves. Sagaku interrupted them.

"Where is Papa? I thought we were to meet him once we got out of the warren." She mentally cursed herself for bringing it up only a second later.

"Papa? Where's Papa? I want Papa!" Youji started to cry. Ririshii, the second youngest, started crying as well.

"Think before you speak," Usagi warned Sagaku, crowding the two crying youngsters to her.

"I'm sorry." Sagaku murmured, looking down again. She really hadn't realized the question would make the girls cry but maybe she should have known better. Had she been only a few years younger, maybe she would have been crying as well.

"It's actually a very pertinent question." Koenma looked directly at Sagaku, and then Usagi and Mazui. "He got the message to us, but he's in a position where he won't be able to go to you guys. Not while the rebellion is at its peak. He's afraid of leading more demons to you. Instead, you'll be living in the Ningenkai, with these guys. They'll keep you safe until you can go home again."

"And how long will that be?" Sagaku asked. Usagi hissed at her to be quiet, that she was upsetting her sisters, but Sagaku needed to know. She couldn't just live with strangers and not worry about her Papa. It wasn't just that she couldn't – she wouldn't.

"It doesn't matter. We'll put you up until it's safe for you to go home." Koenma tried to soothe her. Sagaku bowed her head down, seething on the inside. It wasn't her place to argue though, and she had to remember that.

* * *

I know it's slow going for now, but it's going to start picking up sooner or later, I promise! ^.^


	3. A New Home

True Story: I don't own YYH =D The Warren characters, however, are mine! Yay disclaimers/claimers!

* * *

The house they were brought to was large. It had to be large to fit the four men and the seventeen girls. They all sat in an awkward silence. Some of the younger girls had even fallen asleep, sprawled out across the floor in the living room with total disregard for the bedrooms spaced around the house. Usagi was smoothing the white hair down Yuki's neck as she snoozed on her lap. Hiei was nowhere to be found, having walked out the front door hours ago. Yusuke and Kuwabara were busy gaming on a device the girls were entirely unfamiliar with. Kurama seemed to be lost in thought. Sagaku was waiting to become tired, hoping to fall asleep, but her heart was sending adrenaline rushing through her system every time there was the slightest sound outside.

Kurama made a rustling sound as he stood. The adrenaline ran through Sagaku's system again. Usagi glanced up warily.

"Why don't you guys go to bed?" The red-headed man asked the few that were still awake.

"I think most of us already have." Usagi smiled down fondly at the rest of the girls.

"I meant in the bedrooms upstairs." Kurama countered, also smiling good-naturedly.

"We've been together for a very long time. I think they'll all be more comfortable sleeping down here, at least for now if it's not inconvenient." Sagaku told him, also glancing down at her family. She stood, preparing to go get a glass of water. Kurama had already showed her how to use the sink. He followed her into the kitchen.

"Did you guys always sleep in the same room, or has it just been since your dad left?" Kurama asked. Both he and Sagaku were startled to realize that Hiei was sitting in the kitchen window, but Sagaku merely turned to the fox to answer, leaving him to acknowledge his silent friend.

"We've always slept in the same den. Papa and Mama used to sleep in the den too, but then Mama got taken by that snake demon. Papa couldn't sleep in the same room as us anymore, but we've always shared the same den. When Papa didn't come home, Usagi and Mazui and I started smelling weird demons getting closer, so we didn't even leave the room. We had to protect the young ones, see." Sagaku explained the weird ways of her family. She felt cold in the open kitchen with all her kin separated from her.

"I do see." Kurama affirmed. He paused, and then asked another question. "Koenma never did explain: why are all these demons trying to get you guys?"

"We're breeding demons. Our kind are like are like…conductors. Like with electricity? Except with demonic power. Since we're breeders we have high numbers of surviving offspring, but we don't have any real powers of our own, so male breeders tend to take after their father's power. We don't temper the power, but we channel it well. It's supposed to be very desirable for male demons."

"Sagaku!" Sagaku winced, her mouth shutting immediately. "You shouldn't talk like that! It's undesirable! Papa didn't raise us that way." Mazui turned to Kurama and Hiei, bowing deeply. "I apologize on behalf of my sister's crudeness, good sirs. She knows not how to act in front of men."

"Hn." Hiei snorted and turned back to the window. He had been listening with interest to Sagaku; he had heard of breeders before, but not many ventured past their warrens, for obvious reasons. The smell of a female breeder was intoxicating. These girls covered their scents well, but their father had been right to keep them close to home.

"Oh, please don't worry, miss. I asked her, it's my fault." Kurama responded to the second oldest girl. Usagi was standing in the doorway behind Mazui.

"Regardless, it is not proper for her to speak so boldly. Sagaku, come back to us. Bourei is very restless. Watch over her." Usagi ordered her younger sibling. Sagaku lowered her gaze, peeking at the two men before she left the room. She wondered if they had thought she was too bold. It was the Hanshoku way to be demure. Her father had taught them that. It was with those musings that she fell asleep, squished between Bourei and Yuki, only eight years old and nine years old, respectively.

Usagi and Mazui, in the kitchen, tried to do damage control.

"Sagaku is very talkative. You must not encourage her. It is not how she should be." Usagi scolded. Yusuke and Kuwabara appeared in the kitchen as well. "It is disrespectful for her to act so." And then she became silent.

"Please do not think her actions reflect on the rest of us." Mazui added. "We shall take our leave for the night." And then the two Hanshoku walked into the living room, finding room amongst their sisters, and closed their eyes. The men stayed in the kitchen.

"What did that one girl do?" Yusuke asked Kurama and Hiei curiously.

"She had a conversation. I guess they're not supposed to?" Kurama wondered out loud.

"Hn. They're breeders. They were probably raised as that only." Hiei informed the others.

The next morning, Sagaku was woken by the sound of pots clanging in the kitchen. She disentangled herself from the pile of her sleeping sisters, and wandered directly to the kitchen. Kurama, the fox, was pulling ingredients from inside different drawers and cabinets. Sagaku watched, fascinated. He looked up, sensing her, and smiled. She smiled, but her eyes were busy watching what he was doing with the pots. Of course she had seen such things before, but the metal box he was putting them on was unfathomable. And the giant metal box he kept opening to take containers out of was also a mystery, and whenever it opened it sent cold air rushing at her.

"What is it?" She finally asked, her curiosity finally winning out. Kurama looked up, startled at the sound of her voice.

"The stove, or the refrigerator?"

"Which one is which?" Sagaku stood and opened the cold box, peering inside. Weird things were in there, but they were labeled and she knew how to read. Pickles. A dozen large, grade A eggs. Bologna. Butter. Chocolate syrup. Maple bacon. The problem was that she could read but the only thing she recognized was the broccoli, sitting forgotten in one of the clear drawers. She tapped the drawer hesitantly. It didn't move.

"That's the fridge, that you're looking in," Kurama began to fill her in, "it's meant to keep food cold. They last longer that way, and some of them taste better. This, that I'm standing in front of, is the stove. It's kind of like a fire, but much more controlled. But be careful and don't touch it when it's on – it gets hot."

Sagaku walked over to the stove to see what Kurama was doing with the pan. He moved over compliantly so she could stand beside him as he worked. He opened the container labeled "Grade A Large Eggs" and picked out a weird, white oval. Sagaku went to poke it, but pulled her hand back last minute, changing her mind. What was it? Kurama held it to the edge of the pan, and then hit it. There was a small cracking noise, and then a sudden sizzle as something slimy, bright yellow, and surrounded in clear goop landed into the pan. It began turning white around the edges almost instantly.

"What is it doing? What is it?" Sagaku went to poke it for real this time, but Kurama pulled her hand back.

"It'll be hot. It's an egg, and it's cooking right now. It's a type of breakfast food." He was giving her a bemused look. She was too enthralled with the goop to notice. With no noticeable noise, another presence entered the room. "Good morning, Hiei." Kurama greeted as he cracked another two eggs into the pan. They started to spread a faint, warm smell throughout the room.

"Hn." Hiei said, eyeing the girl warily. Her mouth was hanging open as she watched the egg start to boil up a little. She started to put her finger back to touch it, but remembered what Kurama said in time. Kurama rolled his eyes at Hiei in a friendly way, and Hiei smirked. It was amusing to watch and at least she wasn't drooling.

With an odd, flattened spoon, Kurama began flipping the eggs over, showing the underside to be all white. Sagaku gaped in amazement at the weird food and then glanced up at Kurama who stood at least a foot taller than her.

"Sagaku!" Someone cried frantically from the living room. In the blink of an eye Sagaku had bounded from the kitchen and out of sight, leaving Hiei and Kurama staring in wonder. She had moved so quickly it had seemed a blur. Perhaps even more quickly than Hiei could move.

Mazui was sitting up from where she had fallen asleep using Chisoku as a pillow. She was patting frantically at her nearest sisters, double counting to make sure everyone else was there. Sagaku waited for her to look up, watching her sisters all blink and stir around, waking up. They usually all woke at the same time, due to sleeping in such close quarters. Mazui noticed her slightly younger sister standing, and glared at her.

"Don't disappear like that!" She ordered. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry, sister." Sagaku apologized, knowing that in Mazui's position she would have been terrified too. Usagi stood, brushing her skirt and shirt to shake out the wrinkles, and then began helping the youngest girls up. Youji stood and clutched Sagaku's hand, tugging her until she bent down.

"I have to go." She whispered, her little hand over her mouth. Sagaku looked around. They had gotten there so late at night that none of them had even had the urge to relieve themselves. Now she had no idea where to lead her littlest sister. Luckily, Kurama had heard, despite Youji's attempt at discrepancy. He lightly touched Sagaku's back, and then pointed up the stairs.

"There's a bathroom on the right." He told her, and then saw her blank face and realized that she probably didn't understand what he meant. "Hiei, show them the bathroom please," he requested his short friend, "I have to make some more eggs now that everyone is up."

* * *

So I bet you're wondering when it gets interesting? I'm not telling but maybe soon ;)


	4. Best Protection

This is actually my first story and I feel like I keep figuring out new things about formatting and all of that, so please bear with me as I try new things.

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH or its characters, Warren characters are mine, blah blah blah.

* * *

**Separation**

Hiei flitted past the two girls, and started up the stairs. They would follow, and he didn't want anyone to see that he was blushing, albeit lightly. It was uncomfortable, having to show them how to use something when it should be so…personal. But they had grown up, underground, in the Makai. Things were different there, and bathrooms in their dirt warren surely hadn't been so advanced. He avoided wondering what they did use when they were there.

The three of them crowded into the tiny, porcelain room, and he pointed at the toilet.

"You…go…there." Hopefully his face wasn't burning as brightly as it felt. "Use that," he pointed to the toilet paper, "to clean up after," his finger turned to the lever "and push that down when you're done." Sagaku was carefully avoiding his gaze, clearly as embarrassed as he was.

"Thank you," she told him.

"Hn." Was his response, and then he disappeared back down to the kitchen.

"I'll be right outside the door if you need me." Sagaku told Youji, stepping outside into the hall and closing the door so her sister would have some privacy. It took Youji longer than it normally would have, but she finished her business and the two were able to join everyone else downstairs. Everyone except Yusuke and Kuwabara, who had yet to make an appearance.

The eggs were delightfully delicious to Sagaku, although the texture was foreign and the flavor was unexpected. Her sisters didn't seem as thrilled as she was, but they also seemed to enjoy eating the new food. It was like nothing they had eaten before. Yusuke and Kuwabara both ended up downstairs in time to get some for themselves, and then the group was staring at each other as awkwardly as they had the night before.

"What should we do for the day?" Kurama asked everyone. Yusuke just grunted and face-planted onto the table. Kuwabara didn't even have his eyes open. The girls all exchanged looks.

"We left our work at home," Chisoku began, and the sentence was finished by Chishio, her twin, "so we don't know what to do." Usagi hushed the two girls, her face burning with embarrassment as though it was her fault none of them had been able to gather anything before being forced to evade the demons invading their home.

"Let's go out." Yusuke suggested, his voice muffled by the wooden table.

"They won't be able to go out, dressed like that." Kurama murmured to him. Hiei didn't offer any suggestions, but narrowed his eyes at the seventeen girls. It would be hard to find anything for that many people to do anyways.

"Then we need to get them disguises anyways." Yusuke tilted his head up, peering blurrily at the girls. "Maybe Keiko and them can help." Kurama glanced at the subjects of the discussion. They had all finished eating, cleaned their plates and utensils (luckily that had not required any instructions) and then sat back down with their hands folded and their eyes down. Sagaku kept peeking sideways to judge her older sisters' reactions, but past that they simply sat silently and motionlessly.

"We need to figure out how best to keep them safe, too." Kurama dipped his head, staring at the now-empty table. "Of course being here makes them much safer than they were in the warren, but now we need to know how to keep it that way."

"The Spirit Detective is right too, fox." Hiei muttered. Kurama sighed. He knew Hiei was right – being in the human world didn't make the girls safe. It just meant that they were hidden for the time being. They still needed disguises so that if they had to fit into the human world to truly escape they'd be able to. Kuwabara still appeared to be asleep, so he expected no input from him.

"We can help with things around the house." Usagi said, still looking down. The other girls nodded in affirmation.

"Let's split up," Kurama suggested. The girls all looked up with horrified looks on their faces. "Not for good!" Kurama hurriedly reassured them, nervously plucking at his long, red hair. "Just to get a few things done. Two or three of you will need to go with Yusuke and Keiko to get clothes, and some of us will need to talk strategy and how best to keep you safe."

No one was ready to go anytime soon. Kuwabara, who was supposed to leave with Yusuke and three or four of the girls, along with the stranger Keiko, took a long time fully waking up and getting dressed. None of the girls even knew what to do to "get ready."

"Take the communicator!" Kurama ordered Yusuke. Yusuke rolled his eyes and stuck a red device into the pocket of his pants. "Who are you taking with you?" He asked Yusuke, and Keiko who had just shown up. Keiko was taking in the number of strangers in the house with a twitching eye.

"Dunno. Who knows everyone's sizes the best?" Yusuke asked. Mazui and Usagi exchanged glances.

"One of us will." Usagi gestured to herself and her slightly younger sister. "We'll both go."

"I want to go too!" Mizu cried, latching on to Mazui's wrist.

"If she gets to go, so should I. We're the same age!" Tarento latched on to Mazui's other wrist.

"That's all we can fit in the car then, come on!" Keiko ushered the girls out the door with a kind smile at everyone staying behind. Yusuke and Kuwabara waved as they left as well. Sagaku peeked out the window and watched her four sisters get into some strange device.

"Wow, what is that?" She turned excitedly to Kurama for the answer. He was the best at explaining things, compared to Hiei's points and mutters, and Yusuke's and Kuwabara's cluttered explanations.

"It's a car. You'll have to have it explained some other time, onna." Hiei said from next to Kurama. Kurama nodded, too.

"I'm sorry, but we need to discuss a few things before they get back." He led Sagaku into the kitchen with himself and Hiei. He smiled apologetically at the younger girls who were crowded in the living room as he shut the adjoining door. Immediately, a collage of murmurs started in the other room. "We'll get right to the point, while we can," Kurama said, looking directly at Sagaku as he sat her down, "there are too many of you guys to be in one place."

"What?" Sagaku was startled into looking up at him. It didn't matter anyways – her sisters weren't in there to scold her on proper and improper manners. "We can't leave each other." She told him firmly, before looking back down at her clasped hands, her cheeks burning fiercely.

"Listen, onna," Hiei commanded, "the scent of seventeen breeders is too strong to hide, no matter how good you guys try to disguise it. Demons are going to start swarming around here just like they did at your warren." He was sitting at the window already, and his crimson eyes were narrowed dangerously at her. He was surprised to see her shoulders stiffen as her dark brown gaze zipped up to his in a look of defiance. It only lasted a second before she was gazing demurely down at her hands again.

"We've never been apart before." She whispered, her last line of defense. She knew that he was right.

"We know," Kurama assured her. "It's just that we talked about it last night after you all fell asleep. It's the wisest thing to do. Plus, it's only for a while, and no one will be alone." Sagaku nodded, and then asked the obvious question.

"Who's going with whom?" She asked, her finger tapping nervously against her brown skirt.

"We contacted some friends to help." Kurama waved Hiei over, and Hiei picked up a list on the counter as he joined them at the table, sitting as far away from both as he could get. "We can break you up into four groups. Four will stay with Genkai," his finger grazed a name on the list, "and Yukina. They live in a temple and Genkai is very able to protect them. Four will stay with Jin's group. You haven't met them, either, but they're very strong and very honorable. They'll be here tonight to pick up their charges. Five of them will stay in Koenma's palace. He's not entirely thrilled about it, but he admits it's a good place for protection. The last four will be staying with our group, here in this house." Kurama picked a pen out of one of his pockets, and held it over the paper. "Who do you think will be best where?" He asked Sagaku, his beautiful eyes meeting hers solemnly.

"Usagi should be at the temple. She'll live better with females." Sagaku frowned in thought. "Yuki will want to stay with Usagi, and Bourei will want to stay with Yuki. Giri will help keep Bourei in check." Kurama nodded as he scribbled down the four names under Genkai's. "What kind of people are with…Jin?" She asked, trying out the name gingerly.

"They're immature. But they're strong." Kurama told her honestly. "They'll protect your sisters with their lives, no matter what."

"Hn." Hiei agreed, busy watching the girl as she stared at the paper in concentration. It was almost annoying that she had so many sisters and he couldn't even connect with his one sister. He couldn't imagine caring about anyone else as much as he cared for Yukina, but this girl seemed to care for all of her sisters as much. And she had sixteen of them.

"Then Chisoku and Chishio should go with them. They won't leave each other, and Chisoku enjoys playing pranks. They'll be fine there. Minkan can watch over them and she doesn't get angry as easily as Mazui does. Mizu will want to go with them." Kurama continued scribbling the names down, focusing on the paper. Sagaku began peering curiously around the kitchen again, before he called her attention back to the paper, his lips twitching in amusement at her bland wonder.

"Who should go with Koenma and Botan?" He asked her.

"Mazui, for sure. She doesn't like being here with no structure." Sagaku immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect!" She cried, realizing that what she had said was not only personal to Mazui, but also extraordinarily rude. Kurama laughed out right, and a strange noise that Sagaku realized was an amused snort came from Hiei.

"Don't apologize, no offense was taken. We realize you were all raised very differently than we were. Just continue with the list." Kurama gently pat the back of her hands. Sagaku blushed and pulled her hands away. She had never really been within touching distance of males her own age before her dad had been separated from them, and it was beginning to sink in.

"Seikou will not want to leave Mazui, nor will Youji and Junsei. If Koenma is the one taking five, then Onpu should go with them as well." Kurama finished scribbling down the names Sagaku had given him.

"And who does that leave with us?" He asked, looking curiously at Sagaku. "We never had the time to learn everyone's names last night."

"Well, that leaves me, Ririshii, Iwaku, and Tarento. I'm Sagaku." She added belatedly, realizing that "me" wasn't quite a good introduction.

* * *

I've been adding new chapters, short ones, frequently. It's because I've gotten pretty far with the copy on my computer. If you have any suggestions or comments, please don't be afraid to let me know, I won't mind hearing it :)


	5. Something Snakey

As has been said by many people, and will continue to be said by many people: YYH is, sadly enough, not mine; therefore, the amazing YYH characters are also not mine. The Warren characters are, so at least I've got something ;)

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**First Test - A Nothing Demon**

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and the girls got back about three hours later (Kurama had taught Sagaku and her sisters how to read a clock) spilling exciting facts about their trip to their sisters, before becoming silent when their body guards entered the room. Sagaku hadn't told any of them that they had to split up, yet. Most of the girls wouldn't take it well.

The disguises were strange, to Sagaku's eyes, but Usagi and Mazui were showing all their sisters how to wear them with great joy. There were strange wrappings for the legs, in a thick, rough, blue material. They called those "jeans" and Sagaku picked up hers with no real enthusiasm. They looked painful, even if she did like the color.

"And these are worn like our shirts, but you have to put them on differently!" Usagi was showing the girls their new shirts – three layers of them. "This is called a bra," she held up a weird looking contraption, "but Keiko said not all of us need to wear them." Kurama, who had been reading in the corner, nearly choked. Hiei smirked, but avoided turning around to examine what Usagi was showing her sisters. Luckily Kuwabara and Yusuke were in the kitchen, fighting over food. The two fools would have surely gotten nosebleeds. "And this goes over them. It's called a tank-top." Usagi continued, holding up the next instrument of clothing. "And this is the last bit. It's called a jacket. It's worn over everything else, but only if it's cold. Or raining, Keiko said you could wear it if it's raining, too."

"We don't have to wear them now, do we?" Iwaku asked, sounding as thrilled as Sagaku felt.

"Of course not!" Mazui exclaimed, shocked. "We need to bathe first! Where is the nearest spring, do you think?" She asked, turning to Usagi. Hiei actually snorted this time, and Kurama nearly hit himself in the face. The girls had been ignoring their presence since they were sitting so far away from them all, but Kurama stepped forward this time.

"I'm sorry to eavesdrop," he said politely, "but if you wish I can show you how to use the shower. You can clean in there instead of in a…spring." The girls immediately fell silent, obviously in much embarrassment.

"If you show me, I can teach them." Sagaku finally offered, keeping her eyes averted. Learning how to use the toilet had been bad enough.

"Sagaku!" Mazui gasped, mortified. "You can't let a man show you that!" But Keiko had already left, and there was no one but men around to show them, if they wanted to get clean.

"We won't know how, otherwise." Sagaku muttered, keeping her eyes on the floor. She was twisting strands of her hair nervously again, but she didn't make a move to follow Kurama up the stairs to the bathroom until her older sister finally conceded. Hiei watched out of the corner of his eyes, wondering why most of the girls were so close-minded.

The shower ended up being a fiasco, because most of the girls were set on squeezing in all at once. Kurama almost cried downstairs, knowing the bathroom would be a mess when they were all done. Yusuke almost cried for an entirely different reason. Sagaku waited downstairs with the men, and Ririsii who was curled up sleeping in her arms. She wasn't talking at all, but she watched all four of the boys and wondered how they had all gotten involved. How did they know each other, even? And if they weren't related, than how on earth did they get along so well. She was an exceptionally loud broadcaster, and Hiei found himself listening to her thoughts curiously. Her brain was jumping from one subject to another, and everything anyone did or said provoked another train of questions. But she never voiced any of them out loud.

By the time the rest of the girls got out of the shower, the sun was setting. Sagaku swallowed the lump in her throat, and held onto Mizu's hand. Mizu, sensing something was wrong, snuggled closer to her big sister. The mood in the room was slowly changing from quiet to fearful. It was Kuwabara who finally realized what was wrong.

"Demon!" He hissed urgently, rushing to the window and almost pushing Hiei off the sill in his attempt to spot the ki he had felt. Kurama leapt to his feet as well, Yusuke already heading to the window to fight over the vantage point with Kuwabara. The window was the wrong place to be, though, because when the demon attacked, the window was what exploded first. Some of the girls screamed, and Sagaku found herself pushing her younger sisters back, fighting to get in front of them with Mazui and Usagi. Onpu stood on the other side of her, all of them tense and waiting. Hiei and Kurama were frozen as well, their eyes searching for the attacker.

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I'm really enjoying writing this story, but if you think it's going too slow or too fast, or think I'm missing some important details, don't be afraid to let me know! I can't bite online =P


	6. Pulled Apart

Ten guesses who doesn't own YYH but did create the Warren characters!

It's not Santa, not the Easter Bunny, not the Great Pumpkin...

that's right, it's mmmeeeeee!

Enjoy the chapter =]

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**A Quick Defeat**

The demon appeared behind Yusuke and Kuwabara, both who had turned from the window frantically, trying to avoid the flying glass. The demon slid fluidly into the room through the cracked window, his yellow eyes gleaming as he took in the scene. He dodged Hiei's sword with merely a twitch. Something rattled under the robe he wore. Sagaku sniffed the air tentatively. His eyes focused on the group she stood with. Her three sisters began quivering and he took a step forward. Kurama was quick, though, wrapping his rose whip around the demon's torso. Hiei moved in again, slashing effectively. The demon broke free from the whip, but he was bleeding fiercely. He hissed at the boys and moved angrily towards the girls, sliding silently and smoothly at them. Usagi dodged into his path, her foot moving low and fast, sweeping past his robes in an ankle-kick. He turned to her, his scaly hand reaching for her long, white hair angrily. Sagaku dodged in, intercepting his hand and aiming a higher kick at his chest. He flew back, finally opening his mouth to show elongated fangs with green venom as he hissed furiously. Yusuke hit him with spirit energy and a heavy punch as Kuwabara sliced with his spirit energy sword. Kurama's whip went flying again. It was Hiei's sword that decapitated the snake demon, though.

"Uhm," Sagaku gasped. Some of her sisters were crying. Usagi was sitting on the floor, her eyes widened to show her terror. Yusuke was fuming, kicking at the dead body. Sagaku lost feeling in her legs and fell, but it was Mazui who fainted – not because of the demon, but because just then Botan and Koenma appeared through a portal.

"Oh dear," Kurama sighed. They hadn't told the sisters the plan yet.

Everything from thereon was hectic. The girls wouldn't scream and fight (it just wasn't polite) but they were snippy, and most of them clung to each other, refusing to leave. They were all crying. It took a good hour to get Koenma's group to leave, and when Jin showed up to escort his four, they all broke into tears again. It wasn't until Genkai and Yukina got there and Genkai scolded them all that they stopped sobbing, although there were still tears and a little bit of sniffling. Yusuke couldn't help but sigh in relief when it was just him, Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, and four of the girls.

"You don't have to be sad." Kuwabara was saying to them, sitting on the floor. There was a little bit of blood, but at least the demon body had been taken care of when Koenma was there with Botan and two ogres. The ogres had disposed of it. "You're going to see them again, anyways. It's just for a little while."

"It's still sad. We are not used to being not together." Sagaku looked up at him with her watery, dark eyes. Ririshii was shaking in her grip, and Iwaku and Tarento were both leaning against her, nuzzling as close as they could get.

"You all do seem really close," Yusuke agreed with her, "but for some reason it's louder when there's only four of you here. How come you guys didn't talk to us before?" he asked.

"Well…it's not polite." Sagaku shrugged. Tarento giggled into her shoulder, hiding her face from the boys. It was the first noise she'd made since she finished crying over her sisters' departures.

"But you're talking now." Kuwabara pointed out.

"I won't make a good breeder anyways. I didn't take after Mama enough." Sagaku shrugged, only a little bashful over what she was saying. "Papa won't get a good bid for me anyways, so I don't always act how I should."

"A bid? That's so…feudal. Wouldn't you get pissed if you had to marry someone you had never met before?" Yusuke asked, his voice half-curious, half-enraged on her part.

"Papa wouldn't pick bad men." Iwaku piped in, but she kept her eyes down. She couldn't be as bold as Sagaku, even if she wanted to.

They talked a bit more, Sagaku explaining how they had grown up to answer Yusuke and Kuwabara when they asked questions. Her sisters were mostly silent, but they would throw in one or two comments, if they thought Sagaku wasn't covering all the bases. Kurama and Hiei listened to their answers, making commentaries in their heads to each other. Kurama had to smile at some of the responses Hiei had. It had been a very long time since the two demons had lived together.

That night, the four girls agreed to sleep in a bedroom and not the living room, although they all insisted on sharing the same bed. Sagaku was the last to fall asleep, her arms wrapped protectively around her sisters. Her last thoughts before sleep took her were of her family. Hiei relayed this to Kurama downstairs.

"They're an odd group." Kurama said sagely, his fingers twisting around the stem of his rose.

"Kinda cool, though." Kuwabara said, looking up from the arm wrestling competition he was having with Yusuke.

"In an awkward sort of way," Yusuke struggled to force Kuwabara's hand to the table.

"Hn. I'm going to patrol." Hiei left the room, jumping into the trees around the property. It was quiet outside, and it remained that way all night.

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**Eight Days Later**

It took a good week or so for the girls to get used to living all apart. The first time Kurama suggested an outing, they all agreed quickly, eager to take their minds off their sisters. Sagaku grimaced as she forced herself into the jeans. They were just as rough as she had imagined, and they were so tight. She definitely preferred her loose, worn, dull skirt. The bra was even worse, binding her already small breasts tightly against her ribs. She had to admit to liking the tank top, though. It was purple, a color that she enjoyed, and the material was soft and hugged her skin nicely. Her sisters were dressed as well, in various shades of yellow, green, and blue.

"Where are we going?" Iwaku asked eagerly, gripping tightly onto Kuwabara's hand. The giant human had taken a liking to the young, naïve girls, and they loved hanging out with him to listen to his jokes.

"The movies." Kurama answered.

"Like on the tv?" Tarento questioned. She was holding onto Kurama's arm. It had taken him a while to get used to it, but they had all begun to notice the girls required almost constant contact with someone else to be comfortable.

"Yes, like on the television." Kurama smiled down at the thirteen year old. Keiko had joined up with them when they left the house, and Ririshii clung happily to her hand, and to Yusuke's. Yusuke did his best to hide it, but the thought of him and Keiko sharing a child wasn't entirely unpleasant. It would have to wait until much later, however, because they were only engaged at the moment. And he wanted to be sure Koenma would allow them to live in peace, before then. It was bad enough that he would someday have to take over a kingdom in Makai without her, he didn't want to rush it. His advisors would have to run it until he was ready.

Sagaku was the only one not holding on to anyone. She walked between Kuwabara and Yusuke, but she was hesitant to reach out and grab anyone who wasn't her sister. Hiei followed behind the group, his eyes searching through the crowds of ningen hatefully. Some of the girls were getting too close to him, brushing against him and giggling their apologies. It was enough to make him want to show his jagan eye. That would keep them away.

Sagaku found the movie to be a bit dull, but she was very happy being able to see so many people in one room. Plus the seats were very close together, so she found she could snuggle up to Tarento and Iwaku without being awkward. Ririshii refused to sit anywhere but between Keiko and Yusuke, much to Yusuke's chagrin. It was during the movie that Yusuke had to take a call. When the movie ended, he pulled Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara aside. Keiko entertained the four girls.


	7. Adding to the Equation

Not that this has changed since the last chapter, but I do not own YYH or it's characters. Yadayadayada.

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**Well, This is a Problem.**

"Genkai called to say that Usagi…went into heat." Yusuke said the words gingerly, afraid of the connotations. Kuwabara just stared dumbly, but Kurama's eyes widened and even Hiei had to admit a moment of surprise.

"Does she think some of the other girls are going to?" Kurama asked awkwardly, thankful that only women were around Usagi.

"It's a possibility. Usagi said this was her second time, so Mazui might this year. They already warned Koenma, but they were warning us too, just in case." All four glanced to the group of laughing girls. Nothing seemed different about any of them.

"I think we'll be fine." Kurama finally decided.

"Hn. Better be safe, fox. You know what will happen if she does." Kurama met Hiei's eyes, acknowledging his statement. It wouldn't be safe for the girl if she went in heat so close to male demons.

"Genkai said she's probably too young." Yusuke informed his friends, and then they joined back with the five girls, listening to Keiko answer Sagaku's endless questions.

Back at the house, the girls all settled in to play games. Yusuke had introduced them to card games, and it was a new favorite. Despite having taken almost an entire week to even talk to the males, the three younger girls were becoming quite attached. Sagaku was just content to be out of the warren. She read a lot, and she had never imagined that the real world could look so amazing, so different. Even the men were different, shaped different. They looked nothing like her Papa.

Sagaku watched all four men as her sisters and Keiko gamed. Kuwabara was easily the tallest, almost twice her height – though to be fair, her breed was a short one – with orange, curling hair that fell onto his forehead. He had high cheekbones, but his face was very solid and masculine. His shoulders were wide, almost wide enough for her to sit on one she mused. His chest was wide, too, and flat. He had thick arms, and terribly long, large legs. Of all of them, he looked the most unusual to her. Yusuke, who was often fighting with Kuwabara, didn't look like him at all. He had a rounder face, although it was also hardened and masculine. It was ruined by his beautifully expressive eyes. His hair was dark, flattened back by some sort of gel. He was more slender than Kuwabara, but he was also very muscular. Kurama was a lot like Yusuke, but his eyes were bright green, and his hair was a lovely shade of red. He was also quieter, and much less showy. Hiei was the one Sagaku found her eyes lingering on. He reminded her a lot of her sisters, in an odd way. He was short, and very slender, with a rounded face, and he covered so much of his body he almost seemed an entirely different type than his friends. He was the hardest, though, she thought. He wouldn't converse with her, wouldn't explain things if he could avoid it, and he was always watching everything happen around him, ready to react. But he had the prettiest hair she had ever seen, darker than her own and Chishio's, and they were the only two in the entire warren with dark hair.

"Shrimp! You ate all my ice cream again!" An agitated cry came from the kitchen. Hiei bristled as Sagaku watched, her eyes widened in amusement. Kuwabara came into the living room, throwing an empty carton at Hiei. Hiei glared, his hand moving to his katana's hilt.

"Watch it, baka." He sneered, even though the carton passed over his head by over a foot.

"Stop eating my stuff!" Kuwabara yelled, waving his hands. The katana came out. Iwaku pulled Ririshii to her, and Tarento followed. A spirit sword appeared in Kuwabara's hands. The two clashed together, dodging and colliding with so much force the entire house shook. Sagaku's eyes took it in hungrily, the movement and speed. She wished she knew how to fight.

For a few days, everything was uneventful. There had been a demon attack, but the demons were such low class that Kurama and Yusuke had taken them out without any help from the fire demon and Kuwabara.

"I'm glad you're patient." Sagaku admitted to Kurama on one of the uneventful days. They were standing in the kitchen, and she was holding the salt and pepper shakers, ready to add them to the dish Kurama was making. Hiei listened from the window sill. He made a point of staying in the room with the least amount of people. The youngest breeder had taken to grabbing onto his hand whenever he passed to close, and he had no idea how to loosen her grip without hurting her.

"Why's that?" Kurama asked Sagaku. Kurama was her favorite one to talk to, although she found that Yusuke was very amusing and Kuwabara could say the sweetest things unexpectedly.

"Because we know absolutely nothing about living like this," Sagaku gestured around her, "If I had to explain to someone how to live in the warren as much as you've explained to me about the house, I think I'd have gone insane. It's nice being able to ask you questions without you getting angry."

Truly, she was the most talkative of the four breeders in the house. And she never seemed to run out of things she demanded explanations for. The kitchen was quiet for a few minutes as Kurama and Sagaku worked over the oven. Hiei was zoning out, staring out the window, when Sagaku's voice startled him out of it.

"Can you show me how to climb a tree?" she was asking. Hiei glanced to see how Kurama would respond, but found that her dark eyes were focused on him instead. "I've seen you in them and I've always wondered what it felt like to be that high." She explained.

"Hn." He didn't really have a response. Not that he minded her company, (well, he kind of did) but he wasn't sure he wanted to try to show someone how to do something so…mundane.

"Shorty's got himself a girlfriend!" Yusuke crowed from the doorway, laughing and pointing at Hiei. Hiei glared, and dodged out the window, stopping just long enough to hear Sagaku ask Yusuke to explain what a "girlfriend" was and how did he know Hiei had one? Did Yusuke have one? What about Kurama and Kuwabara? Could she have one? Hiei smirked, and left as Yusuke stuttered and tried to explain.

Sagaku had trouble sleeping at night. It was oftentimes too cold in the room without the body heat of her entire family. Plus, she kept having weird dreams, and she would wake up desperately missing…something. She wasn't exactly sure what it was. But she had accidentally woken up Ririshii with her tossing and turning, so after she soothed Ririshii back into sleeping, she had wandered out of the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. It was by far her favorite room – there were so many things in it that she never got bored of prodding through things.


	8. Surprise Attack!

**I can't say I own the YYH gang, mostly because, well…I don't. But guess which ones are all mine? The Warren "gang" or family…either way =]**

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**A New Skill**

"What are you doing down here?" A voice asked her quietly. Sagaku looked up in surprise, seeing Hiei in the window. He was sitting with one leg dangling, his face turned to the glass panes.

"I couldn't sleep." Sagaku informed him, inching closer a little bit. She was glad he was down here. She didn't like sitting in rooms all alone. Hiei caught the gist of that thought and threw up his mental shields. She broadcasted so loudly that half the time it seemed like she was talking out loud. She snuck forward another few inches, craving the company of another person. Hiei began growing uncomfortable, despite her silence. She was only standing a few inches from him now.

"Come on," he stood abruptly, moving away from her, "I'll show you how to climb a tree." At least it would keep her busy, and her hands off of him. He'd seen how they all grasped at the nearest living thing almost constantly. He wasn't sure he wanted her hands wrapped around his arm.

It was a little chilly outside, but Sagaku was too excited to mind the temperature. She really had wanted to learn how to climb the trees, but it seemed to daunting to do it alone. Her bare feet crunched the grass blades down, chilling in the cold dew. Hiei still had his boots on and didn't notice. He wouldn't have been cold in this weather anyways. When they reached a suitably tall tree, Hiei paused. Under normal circumstances he would have just raced to the top of the tree. Instead, he turned and faced Sagaku before glancing back up the branches.

"Here," he finally said, "grab onto this branch." He demonstrated, grabbing the branch and pulling himself up fluidly, standing on the sturdy surface. It was just low enough that Sagaku could get her hands around it without jumping. She heaved herself onto it, not as gracefully as Hiei had. She studied him as he reached for the next branch, and this time she used her legs, swinging up to the side instead of just pulling herself up. She reached for the next branch without waiting for Hiei to show her this time.

"I did it!" she squealed happily, smiling at the silent man who was now on the opposite side of the tree. He was staring at the sky. Sagaku looked up too, and gasped in wonder.

"Oooh, they're so pretty. Those don't look like the stars back home. And the moon is so…bright. It's like a second sun." She sighed contently, leaning against the trunk of the tree and wrapping her arms around it. After her first three yawns, she admitted defeat and said good night to her quiet companion, before swinging down the branches all on her own, and heading back to the house. She would have made it, too, if she hadn't been tackled.

"You're the cause of that smell!" The blue-haired man hissed excitedly into her ear, his heavy arms tight around her as he lay on top of her. He was jerked up by Hiei, a sharp katana at his back.

"Let go of the onna." Hiei ordered angrily, digging the katana in. Sagaku struggled around, but the demon didn't loosen his grip. He looked at Hiei, confused.

"But her smell," he whined, "I can't let her go." Hiei's red eyes flashed dangerously, his katana sliding into the demon, who yelped but still didn't relinquish his grip. Sagaku growled, in the back of her throat, and then big the demon as hard as he good. He yelped, and jerked away from Hiei, making two large leaps into the trees. Hiei flashed in front of him, but Sagaku was between the two of them. She kicked at the demon's knees, but he was holding her too awkwardly for her to do any damage.

"Hiei?" Kurama called from the house. He could hear the others stirring as well, and the door opened. Kurama waited at the door though, protecting the other three girls who still slept.

Sagaku whipped her hand back and slapped the demon as best she could, her nails scratching across his face.

"Bitch!" the demon growled, releasing her with one arm to wipe the blood from his face. Hiei used the opening, thrusting his katana home before the demon could even blink. His other arm slipped from Sagaku as he died quietly, letting her drop to the floor. Hiei jerked his katana free and dropped from the branches as well, landing on his feet just as Sagaku landed in a crouch. She looked at the demon body that fell beside her, inching backwards, bumping into Hiei. He pushed her roughly towards the house.

"Get inside, onna." He growled at her, and she acquiesced, scuttling towards the red-haired kitsune who pulled her into his arms, checking her for injury.

"Are you okay, Sagaku?" Yusuke asked from behind Kurama. Hiei entered the house, closing the door and locking it. The broken window had been boarded over, so it seemed they were secure for now.

"I'm fine." Sagaku muttered into Kurama's side where she had buried herself between him and his arm.

"How did he get you outside?" Kuwabara asked.

"We – " with a glance at Hiei, Sagaku gulped. "I couldn't sleep. I was already outside. I was just walking back to the house when he tackled me. Hiei must have heard."

Hiei wondered why she didn't tell the truth. He didn't want Yusuke and Kuwabara to tease him, but he wouldn't have lied in a report. The second he relaxed his mental barrier he realized it was because she was afraid of her improper behavior. It was inexcusable for her to have been alone with a male, especially at night. If her father found out, he would never be able to find her a suitable mate and she would always be a burden on him.

"Hn." Hiei grunted, and left them in the front hall, leaving for his room.

"Thank you, Hiei." Sagaku called after him, before disentangling herself from Kurama. "I should go to my sisters," she excused herself, and soon she managed to fall asleep for real, keeping her back to the window.

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**In case you're wondering, I wrote a lot today =D Therefore, many chapters are coming. I'm trying to keep them at a comfortable rate. What do you guys think, is somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 alright or is it too short? This one was just over 1,000, the next chapter is just under 1,500. Let me know what you think!**


	9. What's Going On?

**Sadly, no matter how much I try, I do not own YYH. Blah blah blah, pretend I'm saying something new here, Sagaku and her family are my creations, blah blah blah. (And under no means is the "blah blah blah" supposed to reflect on Ke$ha. While I will admit one or two of her songs are catchy, that one drives me up the freaking wall.)  
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**Something Funny is Going On…**

Sagaku woke up sore the next morning, and the bed was already empty. She could hear her younger sisters downstairs, and she shot up in bed, ready to run downstairs.

"We decided not to let them know what happened last night. Yusuke reported it to Koenma though." Hiei told her from the window sill. She whirled around, shocked and embarrassed that he was in her room, but he immediately left the same way he had come in.

Sagaku spent longer in the bathroom than she had before, gingerly touching the bruises around her ribs. She had gotten the occasional scrape and bruise when she was younger, but this was the first time there had been any semi-serious injury. It hurt a little if she breathed in a certain way, but at least there weren't any signs of blood or anything. Her skirt and shirt were both torn and a little dirty. Not that she wanted to, but with no other choice, Sagaku began pulling on her hated jeans. She stared at the bra distastefully for a minute, and then sighed and strapped it on, pulling the soft tank top over her shoulders. Maybe there was thread somewhere in the house. It would be nice to repair her skirt and shirt – they were so much more forgiving than the denim.

"Saga, you slept late!" Ririshii giggled, running up and stretching her short arms around her sister as soon as Sagaku appeared in the kitchen.

"Saga?" She asked curiously.

"Like Sagaku, but shorter! Kuwa taught me how!" Ririshii giggled again, point at Kuwabara. He was grinning and rubbing the back of his head.

"She's already shortened everyone's name." Tarento informed Sagaku good-naturedly. "She even started calling Hiei 'He.'" The demon in question didn't look particularly thrilled with this nickname. "And she keeps calling me Taren," Tarento leaned in conspiratorially, "she thinks it's cute."

Sagaku burst out laughing, although she regretted it immediately when her ribs protested. She covered her pain, though, in favor of hugging her sisters. "Well, she can call me Saga if it makes her happy." 'Saga' said, patting Ririshii's head. "But that means I get to call you Riri!" Ririshii blushed at Sagaku's teasing. The four men were watching Sagaku for any signs of pain or stress from the night before, but she showed none, and they slowly fell back into the routine of a normal morning.

"I'm going stir-crazy," Yusuke complained loudly, leaning back in his chair, "I feel like all we ever do is sit in this kitchen!"

"Yeah. Let's go to a party or something tonight." Kuwabara agreed. Then he looked down at Ririshii, Iwaku, and Tarento. "On second thought, that's probably a bad idea." But it was too late to take it back.

"What's a party?" Ririshii asked eagerly, climbing up into Yusuke's lap, much to his surprise.

"It's when a lot of friends get together." Kurama told the little girl as he got up to get a drink from the fridge. He agreed with Yusuke and Kuwabara both. He was getting restless always being in the house, too. It felt too much like just waiting for trouble to come to them…which is essentially what they were doing.

"I thought that girlfriends were the ones to 'get together,' though." Iwaku scrunched up her face in confusion. Yusuke sputtered.

"You know what, let's find something to do!" Kurama abruptly changed the subject, hoping to save his friends' some face. Sagaku didn't really want to find anything to do, but she had to admit she was probably the minority due to her ribs.

"How about that thing we saw those people go to last night on the tv!" Iwaku turned excitedly to Tarento. "Remember? That big place with all those dens – I mean rooms. With the stuff in them!"

"Oh, I remember! What was it called? A mack?" Tarento turned to Sagaku who shrugged helplessly. She tended to zone out whenever the tv was on.

"The mall?" Kuwabara asked, screwing up his face trying to remember what was on tv the night before. He belatedly realized he shouldn't have said that, either.

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Two hours later, seven of them were wandering the mall aimlessly. Hiei had elected to wait outside somewhere, and Sagaku was beginning to think he had made the wise decision. A lot of men were staring at her. And it wasn't just men, all the time. A few girls were giving her nasty looks. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Some of the girls had even come up to talk to Kurama, purposely cutting her off from the rest of the group. The mall had quickly lost its charm, and it seemed that her sisters were losing their interest as well.

"This isn't fun." Tarento finally declared, pulling on Kuwabara's hand. "Let's do something else."

"Yes, let's." Kurama breathed a giant sigh of relief, and began leading them all to the parking lot. They had just left the food court and stepped into the warm air outside when they were stopped by a tall man with blonde hair. He towered over Sagaku, much like everyone else, and he stood too close to her.

"Come on, princess, why don't you come chill with me?" he invited her. Sagaku looked around blindly, wondering who the princess was. "Ah, now, don't play dumb, doll. I just wanna get to know you!" He chucked his thumb under her chin and she unconsciously leaned into it before Kuwabara cut him off, pushing his hand away.

"That's not how you treat a lady!" He exclaimed dramatically as Kurama ushered the rest of them off. Hiei joined them in as they neared the two cars they had taken. He cast a glance at the man Kuwabara was lecturing, but it was merely a human. No danger. And yet, he still felt like he should teach the baka ningen a lesson. He tuned into the fox's thoughts just in time to hear him wondering why Sagaku was acting funny. Hiei brushed it off. Who knew why the stupid rabbit would act that way?

He jumped, shocked at the touch on his hip, and looked down to see the youngest one hanging on his side. She looked up at him with a gap-toothed smile. With no idea what else to do, Hiei ignored her as well as he could. Sagaku watched out of the corner of her eye, frowning when Hiei didn't acknowledge Ririshii. She hoped it wasn't because he was annoyed at the little girl – after all, they were Hanshoku. It was the way they were. Her eyes glazed over as she wondered how it would be when they were all reunited. Papa had already explained that she wouldn't be a good breeder, because she didn't have the right look. It was true, compared to her sisters. Especially Mazui and Usagi. Both had large hips and breasts, signs of being maternal, and very, very feminine, soft features. The only other one with any resemblance to Sagaku was Chishio, and Sagaku was still hoping that Chishio would only share hair and eye color with her. It was no good being a Hanshoku with a flat chest and no hips - not that her problems were that great. She just had a small chest, and her hips were average, both of which were unusual traits for the Hanshoku breeders.

Papa was still going to try for her, of course. He said that just because she didn't look like a normal breeder didn't mean that she couldn't be a good one. He just had to find someone who would understand that. The way of the Hanshoku was hard for those who couldn't accept it full heartedly, and she couldn't do that until she knew she had a future in it. It was scary, thinking that she might be alone for the rest of her life. She got in the car with Yusuke, Iwaku, and Hiei. The others got into the second car. Hiei glanced into the back seat, gauging her facial expressions to her thoughts, and then shut off his mental connection to her. He wished she wouldn't broadcast so loudly and frequently.

"Let's go out for pizza tonight." Yusuke randomly decided. He glanced behind him to be sure that the others were following, and turned down another road. Sagaku got distracted by the weird, giant, yellow car besides them. It was full of screaming kids, but none of them looked to be in pain. Iwaku was staring intently at Hiei, who was avoiding her gaze, and Yusuke was singing along to the radio, which still mystified Sagaku. She settled back in the seat, deciding to just enjoy the ride.

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**Once again, this one is almost 1,500 words. Comfortable length? Too long, too short? Let me know!**


	10. Learning to Fight

**Author comment: the sexiness that is YYH does not and will not ever belong to me. Enjoy the recycled characters anyways ;)**

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**A Little Defense**

(Still out in town)**  
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The waiter who served them their drinks and the weird, flat pies, gave Sagaku an appraising look. Kurama glanced to see what Sagaku was doing…and she was just playing with the straw. He frowned at the waiter, wondering what the he was staring at.

"Sweet drink!" Ririshii interrupted his train of thought, grabbing her nose painfully as fizz from her soda tickled it. Kuwabara chuckled and Yusuke burst out laughing, shooting soda painfully from his own nose. Sagaku smiled, reaching over to clean Ririshii's face off. She had grown accustomed to being with only three of her sisters, but her heart dipped unpleasantly as Ririshii waggled her eyebrows just like Chisoku did. Hopefully she would be with her family again, and soon. Maybe then the weird dreams would stop.

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The girls were all tired by the time they got home, collapsing on the couch in a heap, giggling and poking at each other. Yusuke and Kuwabara claimed the remote and loudly fought over it as Kurama sat in the corner, picking up his dog-eared book. Hiei sat at the window, staring mindlessly at the tree he had slowly climbed just the night before. Within the next hour, the noise in the room slowly faded into light snoring, the tv, and the occasional whisper of Kurama turning the page. The fire demon found his own eyes slowly closing. His dream was tinged with red, which wasn't uncommon but it wasn't frequent either. He frowned, seeing the subject in front of him. It was the faceless shape of a girl, but he could easily tell who it was by the slender form. She was beckoning him. Something wasn't right though…there was a weird haze around her, and other shadowy forms were beginning to surround her as well. The dream slowly faded into nothingness, and the short man slumbered on.

When Hiei woke up, it was too a strange hunger stirring in his guts. He used the Jagan eye, sensing out the perimeters of the yard. No demons but for the ones in the house, the ones that belonged there. He left out the window, climbing up to the roof of the house. He felt like he was missing something obvious…he just didn't know what.

Kurama had a red-tinged dream as well, although his featured him as Youko and it was a little more in-depth than Hiei's had been. When he woke up, he understood exactly what it meant, and he looked at the mass of sleeping girls warily. They would have to be very careful, if he was right in his thought process. If so, they had a problem.

It was early in the morning when Sagaku woke up, moving herself from her sisters and walking carefully around the sleeping Kuwabara and Yusuke who seemed to have collapsed on the floor during their tv shows. Her heart was pounding, and she had a fierce headache. Something in her dreams had scared her, a lot. It was painful, hot, a mess of images and motions she didn't understand. Although she wasn't quite sure, she had a feeling it wasn't the first time she had had that dream. It was too familiar, something she had seen a lot recently.

Kurama was waiting for Sagaku in the kitchen. When she appeared, her brown hair flying all over her face and down her back, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, he almost caved in his request. But it was to help keep them safe, he reminded himself.

"Sagaku, I think we should consider training you. Perhaps Tarento and Iwaku as well, although Ririshii might be a little young." Sagaku stopped rubbing her eyes long enough to give the fox a measured stare, and then nodded and started trying to finger-comb her hair. Kurama grinned. She always helped him cook breakfast, but maybe it would be better for her to go clean up this morning. She was one giant mess.

"Why don't you go take a shower?" He suggested. Sagaku gave him a mean look, but took her grouchy self up the stairs and into the bathroom, preparing to rinse off. She hated showers, though she had yet to admit it to anyone. This was not a reflection on being clean, just one on sitting in a porcelain and glass cubicle, all by herself, letting water beat down on her. It didn't even feel like rain, which is what she had expected the first time. Even worse, everyone seemed to insist on taking at least one a day, and she didn't want to stick out so she forced herself to as well.

Yusuke and Kuwabara joined the red-head downstairs, each one glancing furtively at the stairs Sagaku had just gone up.

"Okay, what's going on?" Yusuke kept his voice as low as he could without whispering to his two companions.

"Yeah, I had some pretty funky dreams about her last night." Kuwabara added. It had felt wrong – he was betrothed to Yukina now, and dreaming about someone else felt like a betrayal.

"I had a dream about her also." Kurama assured his friends. "I think that if Hiei were he, he would say he had a dream about her too."

"I did." Hiei, having heard his name spoken, made his appearance.

"So why are we all dreaming about her? Is she psychic? Can she get into our heads?" Kuwabara started freaking out. Yusuke smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to fume, but at least he sat still.

"Well, I actually think it's not something she's doing…at least not like that." Kurama rubbed his hair anxiously. "I'm not absolutely positive, but I would venture to say she might be going into heat as well. Genkai did warn us about that."

"Yeah, but Genkai also said she was too young." Yusuke pointed out.

"But they all lived in close proximity," Kurama countered, "That could speed along the reaction. It's happened before, to people who spend long periods of time together." He cast a side-long glance at Hiei before continuing. "We'll call Genkai tonight and see if she has anything to say on the matter. Maybe we're wrong."

"No, it makes sense." Sagaku, scrubbed pink and dressed in the same outfit as the day before, was standing behind them. "The demon kept talking about my smell. I haven't noticed one, but I guess I wouldn't, would I? But it's easy enough to take care of. I'll just lock myself in a room until it's over." She picked an apple out of the fridge, sitting at the table between the guys. "Problem solved, right? When do I need to go in there?"

The boys all looked at each other, a little embarrassed at having been caught talking about something so personal to her. Even Hiei had the lightest pink tinge to his cheeks.

"Let's talk to Genkai first, to make sure it's necessary. Do you know how long it will last?" Kurama asked her. Sagaku shrugged her shoulders, looking totally at ease with the subject.

"No clue. Are we still going to train today? I'd like to know how to make someone let go of me in case it happens again." She looked at them all expectantly. Kurama sighed.

"Sure, we can start training today. I'll let Yusuke start." Yusuke groaned at having to work out, but smiled at Sagaku, albeit tiredly.

"Training it is. Just you, or the scraps too?" He asked as he straightened his shirt.

"Tarento and Iwaku should know defense too," Sagaku nodded sagely.

Yusuke had finally broken out in a sweat. He had assumed they knew some defense, especially since they were demons and he had even seen the older girls move to defend their younger siblings during the first demon attack; however, as Sagaku explained, that was all instinct because they had family. Alone, their instinct was to run, which was impossible considering the speed of some demons. Yusuke had to agree. Sagaku proved to be very fast, almost as fast as Hiei, but there were others out there who were not only faster, but stronger too. So far he had only showed the girls the basics – how to properly punch and kick – and they were practicing in a straight line while Ririshii watched, giggling at Yusuke when he took his shirt off.

"I'm going to teach you how to throw, now." He told the girls. They lined up obediently in front of him as he scratched his head, trying to figure out the best way to show them without hurting them. With a sigh, he figured he just had to do it. "Be ready to fly," he warned them, and then took Sagaku's wrist. "Watch carefully, and remember how it feels and how to move." He told her, and then with a heave, she went flying past his side, twisting in air. She landed on her side, but luckily with her hands out to catch herself.

"Amazing!" She laughed, as Iwaku went flying past her too, and then Tarento. Ririshii was jumping up and down, clapping her hands.

"Now you try." Yusuke ordered, holding his hand out to Sagaku. She gripped his wrist the same way he had held hers, and heaved while turning sideways. Yusuke stumbled forward and almost fell, but he managed to catch his balance. "Almost! We'll try again in a minute. You're going to have to put more force behind it." He let her know what to fix, and then went to let Iwaku and Tarento try to send him flying. They were laughing and joking, but not taking it seriously. Sagaku grinned ruefully – she wished they were taking the defense lesson seriously, but it was nice to see them so happy…


	11. Take It Seriously

**Oh, woe is me, for I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho! On the other hand, I would say the Warren group is pretty kick butt, and they are mine ^.^**

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**One More Time**

After a short lunch break, Kurama came out with Yusuke and the girls to see exactly what they could do. He was happy to see that they were learning, but also surprised at how basic their defense was. He had seen Usagi and Sagaku both kick in a fight, but here it seemed the girls were very limited. Frowning, he wondered what exactly breeders could do besides, well, breeding. Because somehow he didn't think that would help them escape.

_-Hiei, can you find a book on breeders for me? I want to research a few things.-_ Kurama directed the thought to Hiei, knowing he would get it.

For a while, Kurama helped Yusuke train with the girls. He was actually the first person Sagaku had managed to flip. She couldn't do it reliably, but she was beginning to flip him more frequently. Kurama hid the thought that it wouldn't be enough against even the lowest-class insect demons, but if she kept training maybe she would stand a chance. Maybe. He sensed the fire youkai returning, and bowed out of training, headed towards the house. Even in close contact with her, he couldn't pick up any scent saying she was in heat. Maybe his theory was wrong. Kuwabara took Kurama's place, jokingly picking Sagaku up and throwing her high in the air before catching her. She screamed delightedly, loving the feel of air beneath her. The other two girls demanded the same treatement. Even Ririshii came running into the training circle, begging to do it too. Kurama shook his head, chuckling a little, and went inside to find Hiei.

"Here it is," Hiei handed Kurama the leather-bound volume, worn so that the title was merely a faint indent.

"How do you know it's the right text?" The red-headed human-demon asked the shorter man, flipping it open to see who had written it.

"I asked the bookkeeper." Hiei snorted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kurama looked up, startled.

"Of course, it didn't occur to me that it might be in a store…how much was it? Let me go get my wallet, Hiei." He turned to go find said wallet, but Hiei's hand stopped him.

"Don't worry about it, fox." He said, and then flitted off.

Hiei sat in the trees, watching the oaf toss the girls around in the air. It was like a great game for all of them, and even Yusuke began to have fun, spinning Ririshii in a wide circle until her feet lifted off the ground. He glared at all of them. How did they expect to learn anything if they were just playing around? It was a waste of time.

Sagaku finally excused herself from the yard when the sun showed signs of setting. She was sweaty, sticky, and altogether gross, but she was beaming.

"Are we training again tomorrow?" She asked Yusuke, and then laughed when Kuwabara through a screaming Ririshii into the air. "Training for real, I mean." She clarified.

"Yeah, sure thing." Yusuke smiled at her.

Kurama was already in the second chapter of the large, leather-bound book, as he sat in the big armchair in the corner he had unconsciously claimed as his own. It was an interesting book, starting from when a breeder was born and moving along their life span. He hadn't realized there were male breeders, too. They took after the demonic powers of their fathers' though, meaning a demon could basically create clones of himself, granted they would look different. But they would have the same strength, the same power…maybe even stronger, if the mother was a good conductor. The males left their mothers' almost as early as possible, not tied to family like the females were. The females stayed in the home hearth until they were bid on – something that happened very soon after the first time they went into heat. He hadn't gotten to the chapter that fully explained that, though. Not yet.

Sagaku walked into the living room, and collapsed onto Kurama's feet, playing with the stubby carpet beneath her fingers. Kurama tried to surreptitiously sniff the air, pleased to note that she hadn't given off any pheromones yet. He continued reading, and she continued playing with the carpet, both of them just comfortable to be sitting there. It was the first time she had given in to needing physical contact with one of the guys.

The book actually touched on that, too – the physical contact. As the Hanshoku clan grew larger, the parents would have a harder time taking care of the offspring. And the clan would inevitably grow larger, due to the fact that breeders had very high fertility rates. Extraordinarily high, in fact. Because they wouldn't have time for all the offspring, the offspring would automatically turn to each other, even the males in the beginning. It was a byproduct of having a maternal instinct in the females, and in the young males it was the need for acceptance.

Kurama closed the book finally, and stood to go to the kitchen. Sagaku didn't move, but looked up at him, still resting on his feet. He frowned playfully at her, and with a regretful sigh, she lifted herself off his knees, and trudged after him into the kitchen. She could still hear her sisters playing with Yusuke and Kuwabara out in the yard, and Hiei was sitting on the window sill, once again.

"Good afternoon, Hiei." Sagaku said politely. Kurama had explained that while it was acceptable amongst breeders not to acknowledge males in their presence, most others found it rude. Hiei, Sagaku decided, was very rude. He totally ignored her greeting.

That night, the boys waited until the girls were fast asleep in their large bed before discussing a plan of action. The agreed course was that until Kurama finished reading about the Hanshoku, they would just have to try to keep a healthy distance from Sagaku. And plus, who knew, maybe she wasn't getting ready to go in heat. Maybe it was something entirely different. To be safe, they would just sleep a far distance from the room Sagaku slept in, and maybe lock their doors, too…

For the night, everyone was safe.

"Training again!" Tarento woke her sisters up by jumping on the bed. Sagaku held in a groan. It was one thing for her younger sisters to be excited, but it was early, and her arms and sides were terribly sore from training the day before. She hadn't even known most of those muscles existed.

"Breakfast first!" She ordered her younger siblings who were all clambering from the bed and rushing towards the door. They rushed down the stairs, undoubtedly waking up anyone in the house who had still been sleeping. Sagaku stayed in the room, though, tugging at her hair while she thought. The men they stayed with would never say it, but there was nothing impressive about their fighting skills. She could only flip her opponent a third of the time, and the only time Iwaku could was if Yusuke let her. Tarento still hadn't managed it. They were relying on two demons, a half-demon, and a human with high spirit energy…hopefully they weren't let down.

The eight of them walked outside soon after Sagaku had helped Kurama finish cleaning. Hiei disappeared into the trees, leaving Kuwabara, Kurama and Yusuke to help train the three girls. Ririshii perched just outside of the training circle, laying back to stare at the sky. Kurama faced Iwaku, thinking about what he had read the night before: Hanshoku were not fighters. The males could be, but the females did not have what it took. They were child-bearers, trophies, and tools. Fighting was outside of their realm. He wondered if it was true, or if it was just that no one had ever bothered training them.

Yusuke, who had been facing Sagaku, went flying over her hip, landing in a heap on the ground. His face grew red at Kuwabara's taunting, but he muttered congratulations at the girl anyways.

"Can I learn a new move?" She asked eagerly, plopping down on the ground next to Yusuke. He gave her an appraising look.

"If you can flip me again, three times in a row, I'll teach you something new." He finally agreed, accepting her hand and standing up. He had hardly finished straightening when he went flying, this time in the other direction.

"Are we counting the first one too, or just that one?" Sagaku crouched besides the dark-haired hanyou.

"Just that one." Yusuke groaned, standing up again. This time he set his feet, balancing himself before she dove in, crouching low and throwing him over her back this time. He landed with a heavy "oomph" on his own back.

"I think I would just let her learn the new move, Urameshi. She's just gonna throw you again." Kuwabara guffawed.

"One more time!" Sagaku pleaded. "I think I'm getting it now!"

"No, no! Kuwabara's right, I think it's time to teach you something new." Yusuke waved off Sagaku's attack. She stopped moving forward and beamed at him.

Hiei watched from the tree, watching Yusuke teach the Hanshoku onna how to put the most force behind her kicks, spinning low to the ground and kicking almost straight up. He was taking it easy on the onna, but she was learning. Very slowly. He snorted, and took off, running around the perimeter. He wanted to go check on his sister, but he couldn't leave the property without everyone else, or at least a direct order. This was a mission, after all.

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**So, I'm writing ahead of course, and I've gotten pretty far. The story starts getting really interesting once the unthinkable happens =P And no, there are no flying pigs. I'm just letting you know that while the beginning is untrying and light, it gets intense around page 50 on Word =P  
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	12. Smells Like a Problem

**Once more, with feeling! I do NOT own YYH (depressingly enough) but enjoy the characters I did make up all for you guys =P**

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**Emotional Overload**

Kurama and the others went inside during the early afternoon, the younger girls all worn out. Kurama sat down in the corner again, completely engrossed with the book. Outside, Yusuke was busy teaching Sagaku another kick, a better one if she had less room to maneuver. She was soaking in the moves he showed her as fast as she could, always hungry to learn more.

"Why do you want to learn how to fight so bad?" Yusuke asked Sagaku when they sat down to take a break. Hiei flitted down from the trees, standing near the two conversers as his eyes roved the yard.

"It's not fighting," Sagaku responded, clearly startled, "it's to keep my sisters safe. What if something happens to you guys? I want to be able to protect them if you can't."

They sat in silence for a minute, before Yusuke grinned, and wrapped an arm around Sagaku in a friendly manner.

"Nothing will happen to us, Saga." He promised her. Hiei didn't voice it, but he was sure the spirit detective was right. None of the demons so far had been higher than a B. They were easily taken care of.

The three of them evacuated inside as the sun started setting again. Sagaku's skin had a rosy hue that she'd never had before, and her shoulders and thighs were both sore from the vigorous exercise. For the first time, (other than the first time altogether, when she'd been prematurely excited) Sagaku was looking forward to a shower, and she disappeared into the bathroom the moment Kuwabara cleared out. Everyone kept assuring her that warm showers were the best, but she twisted the knob the other way, letting cold water run down her body. She felt like she was burning.

Downstairs, the three girls and four men sat around the table. Kuwabara was losing at a card game he had just taught Iwaku and Tarento. Ririshii was bouncing up and down in his lap, pointing at the cards she thought he should be putting down.

"What have you learned so far, fox?" Hiei asked Kurama, sitting down across the table from his old friend. Sometimes he felt a tinge of regret that he and the kitsune hadn't managed to make things work. The attempt they had made at a relationship had been a pretty drastic fail – and not just because neither of them was really into men.

"From that book you've been reading? What's it about?" Yusuke turned his chair around backwards, straddling it as he leaned his elbows on the table.

"Well, it's about the way Hanshoku are raised. I thought it could help with understanding our girls." Kurama smiled at Tarento who had ditched the game and was leaning on Kurama's shoulder. The girls had completely broken their habit of never meeting anyone else's eyes. "It's been interesting, but I haven't read anything entirely helpful yet." The red-head admitted.

A sharp buzzing sound interrupted their talk, and Yusuke pulled the communicator out of his pocket. He opened it, surprised to see Genkai's face.

"Hey, old lady, what's this all about?" He groused at her. Her wild pink hair seemed messier than usual, and she glared at him.

"Don't you 'old lady' me or I'll tell Koenma I think you need to go through training all over again." She threatened what had once been one of her best students ever. "I just called to let you know that there was an attack on the temple today. I managed to take care of it, but it was an A-Class demon. I called some old friends to help guard the girls, but it's getting harder now that the one is in heat. Be on the look-out."

"You were attacked?" Kurama asked in concern at the same time Kuwabara asked "You have friends?" Genkai's scowl promised retribution for later, but she refrained from answering either question, and disappeared from the screen. The girls looked frightened, hugging closer together, and the gang was in shock. Who in their right mind would attack a temple Genkai was stationed at? It was like asking for death.

"Were they all alright?" Sagaku asked from the doorway. Her long, wet hair clung to her face and back, and the nightgown Keiko had gotten her on the first day hung becomingly from her shoulders.

"Yes," Yusuke swallowed, and hit the drooling Kuwabara on the head, "she didn't say anyone was injured. I'm sure they were all fine." Iwaku, Tarento, and Ririshii all crowded around their older sister. She patted their heads, crouching down to sit on the floor amongst them. Ririshii was whispering urgently in her ear, and Iwaku looked like she was ready to cry.

"Papa can't come, baby," Sagaku whispered to Ririshii, smoothing her pale hair from her face, "as soon as it's safe he will. Just wait." But it was too late to make the little girl feel better, and she burst out into heaving sobs. Tears were beginning to fall down Tarento's face, and Iwaku began crying as well. With a desperate, feared look at the men, Sagaku gathered her sisters to her, and led them up into the room. The door shut. Kuwabara stood up, making to rush up the stairs to comfort them, but Hiei stopped him with a cold statement.

"Nothing you can say will make them feel better, baka." Hiei shot a look at all of them. "Their sisters are in danger and they are just now realizing that." He understood their worry. He hoped Yukina was okay. The look on Kuwabara's face said that he felt the same way.

Sagaku let her sisters cry until one by one they fell asleep. The fan on the ceiling (she hadn't even needed Kurama to explain what exactly it did, once she figured out how to turn it on) was blowing cold air, and with a frown she stood to turn it off. It slowed, finally stalling altogether, and left her standing with damp hair in the middle of the room. She was too cold. Climbing back in bed, she attempted to curl back up with her sisters. Her toes were beginning to numb. What was wrong? She closed her eyes, burrowing further under the blanket, bringing her knees higher up. Ririshii mumbled something and then stuck her thumb in her mouth, cuddling against Sagaku's back. Slowly, very slowly, Sagaku fell into an uneasy slumber. When she woke up again, her fingers were entirely numb with cold, and her scalp was tingling unpleasantly. She stifled a panicked cry, biting down on her unfeeling hand. Her lungs felt like they were contracting.

Trying to be careful, although she couldn't move well when she couldn't feel her feet, Sagaku stumbled out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her so her sisters wouldn't wake up.

"Kurama?" She called quietly, frantically. She could hear movement in the rooms down the hall. She hesitated, and then stumbled another few steps. It was her first time going past the bedroom she shared with her family. "Kurama, something's wrong!" Tears were streaming down her face, her heart was pounding. She didn't like being cold. She hated it, in fact.

"What's wrong, onna?" Hiei's sultry voice asked from inside a dark room. She stumbled hard, falling against the doorframe. Kurama, just a door away, finally moved into the hallway.

"What's wrong, Sagaku?" He asked, concern lacing his voice. He moved towards her and Hiei, but then paused, his nostrils flaring. "Oh." He said quietly.

"What is it? Why am I so cold? Make it go away!" She pushed herself from the door frame, her feet carrying her awkwardly to the red head. He fell back a few steps, his eyes wide and afraid. His fists were clenching. Hiei breathed in, realizing what had provoked Kurama's reaction.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Kurama told the upset girl, moving another step back. He fought to control his breathing. The demon in him was begging to be let out.

"Onna, you need to go to your room." Hiei ordered, moving cautiously around her. He stepped between her and the struggling kitsune.

"What's happening?" She gasped, her brown eyes wide and crazy, focusing on Hiei's ruby gaze.

"Go to your room!" He snarled at the terrified girl, and she skittered back, raising her hands against the anger in his tone. "Go!" He yelled at her. She disappeared, the door locking behind her. Tears were still being let loose from her eyes, and she hugged herself, willing her body to calm down, to warm up. The cold was beginning to spread further through her body, and she was finally understanding what was happening.

Out in the hallway, Hiei stood watching the fox breathe in deeply and shudder.

"That was something." Kurama was finally able to pant. He shook his head ruefully. "I hope she's not too scared."

"Hn." Hiei agreed with the fox's first statement. It was something, and it had affected him too. If he hadn't spent so long separating himself from everyone, he would have been just as tempted by the alluring scent as his friend had been.

"We're going to have to do something about that." Kurama nodded towards the room, coming back to himself completely. "It's pretty strong."

"Hn." Hiei had to agree, again. It was ridiculously strong, and it was going to attract a lot of demons, and very quickly. "We shouldn't have given them a room with a window."

"No," it was Kurama's turn to agree, "We shouldn't have."

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**I'm getting through this pretty quickly. Are you guys excited for when stuff really starts going down?**


	13. Serpentine

**So I don't own YYH, as I have been telling everyone since I started writing this…roughly a week ago =P Warren characters, plot = mine, so on and so forth.**

**Also, thank you to the people who reviewed. I enjoy hearing back from you guys =]**

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Snakes Could Help, Too…**

Yusuke walked into the kitchen, stretching and looking around curiously.

"What on earth are you cooking?" He asked Kurama, trying to find what had finally drawn him out of his room.

"It's not anything I'm cooking." Kurama groaned, looking like death. He hadn't been able to sleep all night, thanks to the smell of demon-in-heat. "Sagaku started early."

"Oh. That's bad." Yusuke sat down. "It smells so good, though…"

"What smells good? I don't smell anything." Kuwabara said loudly, twisting his head from side to side, trying to catch a whiff of whatever was driving his friends crazy. He didn't smell anything at all.

"You're 100% human." Yusuke reminded his rival and friend grouchily.

"Only until my sweet, beloved Yukina and I are joined together!" Kuwabara reminded his friend angrily. Yusuke glowered at the carrot-top, wondering what on earth the cute, little koorime could see in such a boar.

Tarento and Iwaku tried to drag their oldest sister out of bed, but she refused to budge. Ririshii didn't plan on leaving the bed until Sagaku did, and so she thwarted her sisters' attempts by clinging to the adamant girl. And Sagaku was being very adamant. No way could she leave the bedroom. She didn't understand exactly what being in heat meant, but she knew it was bad. And plus, she had promised Kurama and Hiei that if she did go into heat, she would lock herself into a bedroom, and so that's what she would do. Or that's what she was planning on doing, anyways.

The guys were trying to decide a plan of action – demons were going to be swarming them as soon as her scent spread far enough. And it was definitely spreading.

"There's nowhere we can send them that they'll be safe!" Yusuke pounded his fist into the wooden table. "All of them are in danger as long as she's like this!" They were all having a hard time putting words to the musty, sweet smell that was permeating the house. It was hard to focus with it, and finally Yusuke had just put a clothes pin on his nose. Kurama and Hiei kept their dignity, just breathing through their mouths instead of their noses. Kuwabara was still unaffected. He kept musing out loud about what Yukina smelt like if she went into heat, and did icy demons go into heat? His musings were doing nothing to improve the fire demon's short temper.

Needless to say, no one was surprised when the first demon showed up. The second and third ones just got lucky, and came while the first one was still fighting. Regardless, with the use of his rose whip, Kurama held off the first one long enough for Kuwabara and Yusuke to confront the other two. Hiei killed the one Kurama still held trapped. Sagaku watched from the window of her room, her hands wrapped around her, her fingers clutching long tendrils of her hair. She could feel her limbs again, but she was still freezing cold, even when her three sisters crowded around her, trying to comfort her. It was all she could do to hope that Usagi wasn't feeling as horrible as she was.

"It's really bad," Yusuke explained that night to Genkai, using the communicator. "If we take the other three, can you keep her with you? That way demons are only going to be attracted to one group, not two." Genkai's temple had apparently been seeing a lot of action near the forest.

"You really want to put two demons in heat in the same place?" Genkai snapped at her former trainee. "They would tear each other apart." It was true, Kurama confirmed. He had finally gotten up to the chapter that explained all about being in heat for the Hanshoku.

"Supposedly it's very uncomfortable." The red-haired, mild-mannered man tapped the pages in front of him. "They're used to a lot of heat, especially since they always crowd around each other as I'm sure you've noticed. When they're in heat, though, their blood doesn't warm them as well. It has something to do with the chemicals in their bodies and the pheromones they release."

"Well, how does that help us?" Kuwabara asked, straining to see over Kurama's shoulder.

"It doesn't." Hiei snapped. They were all crowded in the kitchen. It had been a rough day, and going upstairs was a little torturous, all things considered. "How long does it last?"

"Anywhere from hours to weeks," Kurama squinted at the text, "it depends on the circumstances. It might not last that long for her, since she's so young."

"Or it might last even longer, since it wasn't supposed to happen yet." Yusuke groaned, being the pessimist. They all glanced at the stairs, even the stoic fire demon. Hopefully it wouldn't last weeks.

"Kuwabara, since you seem to be unaffected, why don't you stay here tomorrow? We'll take the girls outside so Sagaku doesn't have to be trapped in one room for an extended period of time." Kurama said thoughtfully.

"Do you really want the girls outside if there might be more demons, though?" Kuwabara asked. Yusuke groaned and thumped his head against the table. There would be no relief from this catastrophe.

"Why is it impossible for other demons to resist if we're resisting it?" Yusuke asked from the table surface.

"We're actively resisting it." Hiei answered quietly. They all paused. It was true…they were actively resisting it.

"That, and it's been somewhat gradual. We may have received a little immunity through constant proximity." Kurama added to Hiei's explanation.

Hiei stayed up all night, watching the yard carefully. He could feel several demons outside, although none of them ventured too close to the house. Under normal circumstances, he would have just gone out and taken care of them. Unfortunately, with at least four skulking around, it seemed unwise to leave his post. At least the baka onna was trying to make it easier on everyone by staying in her room. She even had her sisters, who had been blissfully quiet all day, check the hallway before she went to the bathroom. It didn't matter though, not to the demons in the house. They were able to separate carnal temptation from their conscious decisions. It was the demons outside she should be worried about.

Sagaku was worried about the demons outside. She wavered between standing close to the window, so that if a demon did come it could just take her and leave her sisters alone, and standing farthest away from the window so it would be harder for demons to sense her. Undoubtedly, it didn't really make a difference. It was harder to stay put together today than it had been the night before, except that now she wasn't panicking. It was just…she could _feel_ the other demons. She could feel their heat, their warmth, their fire…and she wanted it. She wanted it bad. It took a large portion of her self control to not leave the room and find one of them, whether it be Yusuke, Kurama, a demon outside, or even Hiei…but she was so cold, and she wanted the heat…

If it weren't for her sisters, Sagaku would never have been able to control her urges. She wondered how Usagi was holding up.

Morning came again without any mishap, although more demons had started prowling near the house. Kurama, Yusuke, and Hiei decided to make a day of it, to clear their heads from the scent in the house. Kuwabara got stuck babysitting inside, although Sagaku was so happy to be out of the room that he didn't dare voice his complaints.

Taking turns standing guard near the house, the boys felt out the lesser demons, killing them off as soon as they got the chance. There were two higher demons that were presenting a problem, though. Each time the boys got close, the demons would melt away, leaving no trace of their energy or odor. It was like they were merely shadows. (And that, my dear readers, is called foreshadowing, no pun intended. Well no, it was intended.) It was an active day, though most of it wasn't exactly hard work. When they finally admitted defeat on finding the last two demons, they knocked on the door to give Sagaku ample time to get back up to her room. Once inside, they made a call to the other groups, reporting the happenings of the day.

After dinner, which the girls ate up in the room so Sagaku wouldn't have to eat alone, Kurama began reading again. After a few minutes he stopped, surprise. Then he reread what he had just seen. And he reread it again.

"I have it!" He stood up, excited. Kuwabara, who had been snoring on the couch, jolted upright.

"Have what?" His eyes twitching, he looked around the room, hoping to spot whatever Kurama had. Yusuke hadn't even woke up, and Hiei was hiding out in his own room.

"A solution!" Kurama shoved the book under Kuwabara's nose, pointing at a paragraph before jerking it away and stalking around the room. "Now we just have to figure out where to get it…" he muttered to himself.

"What is it?" Kuwabara snapped, tired of trying to figure out what was going on.

"Serpentine!" Kurama told Kuwabara with his eyes blazing.

"You want to get her a snake?" Kuwabara looked at Kurama as if he were insane. "What on earth will that do?"

"No, not a snake. A stone: Serpentine, also known as New Jade! It'll help take in some of the energy, making the scent less pronounced, and the process much shorter!" Kurama sighed, happy now that he had found a solution. Going out and whacking demons was not his usual problem-solving technique.

"Well, where do you plan on getting it?" Kuwabara asked the excited pretty-boy.

"I don't know. We'll have to look around tomorrow." Was the pretty-boy's answer.

It was with a bit of luck the next day at a small, obscure shop, and a little bit of bargaining, that Kurama came home the next day with two bracelets, a necklace, an anklet, and a hunk of stone. With a bit of trepidation, he called the four girls into the living room, and his team as well.

"We'll have to do this quickly," he said, trying not to breathe in to deeply. He clasped the bracelets to Sagaku's wrists, and then handed her the anklet. "Put this around your ankle." He commanded her. She complied, curious and anxious at the same time.

"What are they going to do?" She asked as Kurama pushed the stone into her palm. Her fingers closed around it, and she frowned, looking at her hand. "It has a pulse." She looked up at Kurama. "I recognize it. What is it?"

"It's called Serpentine. According to the book, the more you focus on the stone, the more energy it absorbs. It'll help with," he cast a helpless glance around the room, hating to say something so crude, "your scent and everything."

"Will it actually work?" Yusuke asked, leaning over to get a look at the green stone.

"You'll have to let me know." Kuwabara leaned back in his chair smugly. He had spent the last two days in reasonable comfort while his friends and the shrimp had suffered. It was about time.


	14. Shadows and Lights

**YYH does not belong to me, as I'm sure we all know / 3**

**Horrible scare this morning, too – I went to turn on my computer and this file wasn't showing up. Seriously, I thought it was gone, and considering what I have posted is only like half of what I have written…well, I would have cried like a baby.**

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**Shadows, Shadows, Everywhere**

"I just have to focus on it?" Sagaku asked, but she didn't hear the answer. She was already focused on the stone, feeling the steady pulse. Her own pulse was slowing down, beginning to match itself to the stone in her hand. It was pulling at her, and her mind was beginning to fall into it. She could feel a light tug near her foot, and on her wrists as well. It was a wonderful feeling, comforting and familiar. It was home, she realized. The warren must have been surrounded by different stones, and they had grown up without realizing why it had always been so safe.

When Sagaku finally looked up, Kurama was cooking, humming tunelessly, and Yusuke and Kuwabara were being tag-teamed by her sisters in a card game. Hiei was leaning against the glass as always. His eyes were trained outside, and the bandana he usually wore around his forehead was on his lap.

"Hiei has three eyes!" Ririshii giggled, telling her big sister in a stage-whisper. Hiei turned to glare at her, showing that he did, in fact, have three eyes. Even though she tried not to, Sagaku couldn't help but stare. The eye wasn't just an eye, she could tell…and when it focused on her, she felt something in her head. She frowned, tugging her hair anxiously. Hiei ignored her, and turned back to the window.

"So how do you feel now?" Kurama asked Sagaku, smiling as he started putting plates of food out in front of anyone. Sagaku took the rice and fish appreciatively.

"Warmer. Not quite normal, but I'm not as stressed, I don't think." She had to think about it first, to fully assess how she felt.

"Good. Your scent has faded a lot." Kurama informed her. Hiei sniffed the air from where he was sitting. It was true, the scent was no where near as strong as it had been the day before.

"You should tell the baby." Hiei reminded Kurama. "They might need to know." Plus, that way Koenma could let Genkai know. It might help with the demons attacking the temple. He didn't like his little sister being in danger for some stranger.

That night they were all able to sleep easy, knowing that with scent as subtle as it was, very few demons would be attracted. Of course, what they should have realized is that several demons had already staked out the position of the demoness-in-heat scent. It wasn't very often they could get their hands on a breeder…

The shadows in the bedroom twisted and elongated oddly, pulling up and forming odd puddles on the ground. Sagaku muttered, turning over in her sleep. The pulses of the stones she still wore and carried became stronger, more urgent. Her sisters stirred uneasily against her, and it was only when Tarento rolled over, inadvertently pulling Sagaku's hair, that she woke up and realized the danger. By then, it was too late. The shadow was already swamping her, so she did the only thing she could do – She kicked her sister hard enough to knock them off the bed. The shadow was already wrapped around her, fading into nothingness, and so at least her sisters would be safe.

Tarento woke up with a yowl, landing hard on Iwaku who also screeched. Ririshii started wailing. If the thump from them landing on the floor hadn't been enough to wake up their protectors, the wailing was. It could have woken up the dead.

Hiei reached the door first, but it was Kurama who pushed it open, followed by Yusuke and Kuwabara. They took in the sight of the three girls tangled in the blanket on the far side of the bed. Sagaku was missing.

"Find her." Yusuke hissed at Hiei, and then rushed to the girls, helping to pull them all out of the blanket and straighten them up. Ririshii latched onto his leg, crying fitfully. He hugged her awkwardly, trying to take in any signs of demon activity in the room. Hiei was unwinding his bandana again, reaching out with his Jagan eye that the Hanshoku had stared at curiously only a few hours ago. He couldn't latch on to the feel of her at all, couldn't find her mind.

"The demons from yesterday," he snarled. Maybe a small part of him was worried for the onna, but a bigger part of his anger was due to the invasion of what he had staked as his territory, at least if he was to be stuck in the ningen world for any period of time. He kept his third eye open, searching harder and harder. Nothing…he couldn't find her.

"Maybe when they stop moving." Kurama's fingers were twitching restlessly, his red rose flying between them. "We could all sense them when they were here, it was just when they started moving that we couldn't pinpoint them. Maybe you'll be able to see them when they've slowed down."

"Why did they take her?" Iwaku asked in a little voice, inching up between Kurama and Hiei. She clutched forcefully at both of them, refusing to let go of their hands. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Don't be stupid, Iwaku." Tarento snarled at her slightly younger sister. "Don't you understand what was happening? They kidnapped her because she was special. She's not coming back." Tarento stomped her foot down, tears streaming down her face. Ririshii started crying harder.

"Shh, Riri, don't cry!" Kuwabara cajoled the small child, leaning down and taking the hand that she held away from Yusuke's leg, searching for her favorite protector. Yusuke glared at Tarento.

"Don't yell at her like that! We're going to get your sister back and don't you dare think otherwise! You have no right to be so rude to her!" He yelled angrily. Tarento sneered elegantly at him, and then stomped out of the room to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Her sisters stared with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.

"Call Keiko and your sister, Kuwabara." Kurama ordered. "They'll have to watch the girls while we search for Sagaku." And so the planning began, at two in the morning.

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Sagaku was covered in an oily substance that wouldn't rub off no matter how many times her fingers slipped on it. Two demons were detracting themselves from her, separating from long tendrils of blue-black shadows that fanned like roots around the room.

"Such a pretty scent she tries to hide." The demon's voice was whispery, his hands scooping through her hair like wind.

"Can't fool us. We know what she is." The other demon agreed. They looked to be identical twins, with long, flowing purple hair, pale white skin, and black, never-ending eyes. They were both tall and willowy, swaying around her like they were drunk.

"We'll take what she has to offer." The first demon whispered, pulling her hair back and forcing her to bare her neck.

"I offer nothing." Sagaku snarled at him, jerking her head away from his probing fingers. Loose strands of her hair fell, curling on the floor.

"Then we take what you don't offer." The other demon snaked close to her, his fingers brushing down her sides. Sagaku glared, her lips tightening. The stones around her wrists and ankle were pounding mercilessly against her.

"No," she said firmly, "you won't."

Both demons threw their head back, laughing hoarsely. Sagaku glanced around the room, searching for an escape, a weapon…and found nothing. It was a solid stone room, no windows, no doorway that she could see…The Serpentine jewelry she wore began to beat painfully against her skin. She glanced down at the bracelets, seeing a faint yellow glow that pulsated with the beat. The demons were circling her, their fingers running up and down her arms and back as they argued over the best way to take her. Apparently one at a time wasn't an option.

"You can't have me." Sagaku warned them.

"Can too," one of the demons hissed in her ear, and then with a rip, her shirt ripped down the side. It hung awkwardly, but she remained mostly covered. With a grating chuckle, the other demon reached for her skin. His slick fingers slid across her, and then with an astounding BOOM! the demon crashed into the stone walls. Yellow light was falling in beams around her, the stone walls grating against each other.

"Stop it." Demon one snarled at her in his papery voice. Sagaku pressed her lips together, harder. Focus; that was all she had to do. She wondered if this is what Kurama had meant when he told her to focus. The Serpentine was burning against her skin, warming her as she hadn't been warm since her family had been separated. It was a protection stone, and she was calling on it, instinctively and rightfully.

"I won't stop." She told the demons, her voice taking a hard edge. One of them swiped at her. His hand shredded in the yellow light.


	15. Almost Answered

**The YYH characters are not mine! I know, it's a pity. Well, not really, I don't think I could have made them so BA. Feel free to read the chapter, hope you enjoy it =P**

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The Jagan Eye**

Hiei was searching with his Jagan eye again, his mind reaching out to touch her. He found her in a blast of heat, caged in by yellow light and rock. His eye sharpened, and he finally delved her whereabouts.

"Come on, fox." He demanded of Kurama. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed, leaving the three girls with Keiko.

The portal Hiei led them to was not one of Koenma's. It was not only illegal, but distasteful, too, leaving smears of black oil on the forest floor below it. Hiei passed through it after hesitating for only a moment, and the others followed him. There was going to be a fight soon, and they were going to be ready for it.

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Sagaku stayed in the center of the room, staying focused on the stone. She had felt and odd plunge in her mind, and she recognized it as the brief contact with Hiei's mind she had had recently. There was no way to be sure how far away she was from them, but she knew that the boys were coming. She just had to hold the demons back until then.

They hissed threateningly at her, shifting along the edges of the wall, trying to slip in past the wavering lights. They failed, every time. Sagaku turned slightly each time they moved, keeping an eye on them while she clutched the Serpentine, forcing her energy into it. Sooner or later she would run out of energy. She just hoped it would last long enough.

She could feel scuffling outside the surrounding rock, in tune as she was. The rock was deterring the new presence, waiting for recognition. She closed her eyes, feeling with her mind for the beings above her. Spirit energy, filling someone to the brim. She would recognize Kuwabara's spirit energy anywhere. Another form of spirit energy, pure and yet heterogeneous, mixed with demonic energy as well…it was saturated with the familiarity of Yusuke. The feel of Kurama was not familiar, tinged with a dangerous taint she had never sensed before. Despite that, it was clearly him. And Hiei's presence seemed to tug away from her mind, pulling back from her when she her mind touched against him. She let her mind open up to the rock instead.

With a deep, soundless sigh, the rock split open. The team dropped from the Makai into its belly, tantalizing inches below the roots of unfamiliar trees. Slowly, the yellow light began to diminish, leaving Sagaku standing in a receding circle of yellowish haze. Kurama stepped forward, his green eyes flashing dangerously, but the demons were beginning to sink into the shadows.

"No," Sagaku hissed, hugging her body to the wall. The stones began to reject the shadows, forcing them back into the room.

"Unnatural." Demon two leapt at Sagaku. He was intercepted by Hiei, with a flashing katana. The katana barely nicked the demon as he melted back into shadow. It was like a bad game of tag – the boys intercepted the demons when they could, and Sagaku kept the demons from leaving the room then had attempted to trap her in, but as long as they could become shadows it seemed to be a stale mate.

Finally, as the two demons folded together in one dark mass, Yusuke solved the problem. With a large cry and both hands forming a pistol, he shot out a golden ball of energy at the two of them. The shadowy mass began forming solid, and then melting into an oily mess on the floor. Yusuke looked at it distastefully as Sagaku crept forward sniffing at it. Her cheeks were stained with mixed tears, mud, and the same stuff the two demons had become, and her hair was falling in a crazy tumble all over her shoulders. She was pretty sure her shirt would be falling under "not proper," too. Luckily her sisters weren't there to be scandalized.

"They smell so gross." She finally said. "I can't get past the…black slimy stuff."

"You're…okay?" Kuwabara asked her. "They didn't do anything unmanly to you?"

"Hn. She's fine, baka." Hiei told the giant oaf, pulling out a cloth to wipe the oily mess off his katana's blade. It was true – he would smell it if there had been sex in the room. Kurama would have smelled it. Heck, even Yusuke might have smelled it. Who knew exactly how much his senses had improved since he found his new heritage.

"Are you hurt, Sagaku?" Kurama asked, examining her with a medical eye.

"I think my scalp might be bleeding." She pointed to the long strands of hair on the floor. "They were able to get close to me before I started focusing." The stones were calm again, cool against her hot skin.

"How do we get out?" Yusuke asked, looking up at the large crack in the ceiling/ground they had fallen through.

"I don't know. They just pulled me through." Sagaku shrugged, looking up as well. The boys were feeling a little claustrophobic, being underground. She could feel anxiety rolling off of them, though none of them would admit it. Underground was home to her, though. She felt fine down here. She heard Hiei growl and mutter something "onna" under his breath. With a startled glance in his direction, she wondered if he could read her mind even if she didn't feel him in her head. He wasn't going to tell her she was broadcasting.

"We'll have to climb out." Kurama was examining the rocks in the wall, and how they protruded. "It might take a while."

It might take a while for some of them, but Hiei refused to wait, and flashed up with his crazy speed. Sagaku's eyes followed his movements. She had learned how to climb a tree by mimicking him, so she took a chance and rushed at the wall, just as he had, kicking off in a perfect replica of his own move. She landed sky-side next to him. He narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't comment on this newfound skill. The others had to come up the slow way, using vines to follow Kurama, and rocks when the vines weren't good enough.

"Let's get you back with your sisters." Yusuke grabbed Sagaku's arm and she clung to it happily.

"How did you guys get here?" Sagaku asked as they walked in a direction Hiei had chosen. She watched where her feet were going, and leapt nimbly over the branches and brambles that littered the floor.

"We followed the same trail they took. Hiei was able to follow it from the house to the portal, and luckily the portal let us out in the same place they went out." Kurama told the rabbit demon as they followed the silent, short figure.

"How did you follow it?" Sagaku leaned forward, her hand reaching to Hiei's shoulder. He jerked his shoulder out of her reach, but she kept talking undeterred. "I didn't smell them at all when they got in the house, and I can usually smell anything. Even back there, they just smelt like…death."

"I didn't follow their scents." Hiei muttered, but he didn't turn back to look at her. She skipped forward a little, letting go of Yusuke, to walk next to Hiei. He stepped to the side, out of her reach.

"What did you follow?" She asked curiously, stepping closer to him but not reaching for him.

"Hn." He didn't answer.

"What was it?" She asked again, unaware of an amused trio of men laughing lightly at Hiei's discomfort.

"Brain signature." He said, still looking forward.

"How on earth can you do _that_?" Sagaku got too close to him again in her excitement, and the evil glare he gave her sent her skittering back into Kuwabara. Hiei gestured towards the bandana on his forehead, which Sagaku took to mean his third eye. But she didn't ask for any more clarification, opting for the safety of standing by Kuwabara instead. He swung an arm around her, giving her a blow-by-blow reconstruction of everything that happened during the scant hours before that she had been taken from the house. The portal was shrinking in size by the time they got close, so they all scuttled through quickly, leaving it to die behind them.

Shizuru and Keiko were in the kitchen, trying to comfort the seven girls when the five absentees trouped into the house.

"So how did you manage to keep them at bay?" Kurama asked the recent hostage, just as the door opened. He never got the answer to his question, as Sagaku was swamped by her sisters. Usagi had her arms around Sagaku's throat almost as soon as she was in her reach.

"How dare you scare me like that!" She sobbed, before relinquishing her grip in favor of hugging her little sister. Yukina followed the parade of girls with Keiko and Shizuru. She gave them an exasperated look, moving aside so everyone could crowd into the living room. Usagi, the boys were quick to notice, was still very much in heat.

"Were you not able to find the Serpentine?" Kurama asked Yukina with a pained expression as he held his hand over his nose. He hadn't been prepared to face the scent again, and Usagi's was even stronger than Sagaku's had been. He wondered how they had even been able to leave the temple. Genkai must have been holding down the fort.

"Koenma made us a portal." Yukina told the boys in her sweet voice without having to be asked. She smiled prettily up at her tall fiancé who grinned foolishly back. They had both agreed on a long engagement, and while Kuwabara was a little impatient, he was happy to do anything that would make Yukina happy too. "And she has Serpentine, it just hasn't made a difference that we've noticed. Did it work for you?" She asked.

"Yeah. Have you tried focusing on it? That worked for Sagaku." Yusuke asked the fair-haired beauty.

"We've tried several things." Usagi answered, and then stared at the floor, refusing to look up. Noticing Sagaku's shirt, she gasped in horror and rushed her sister to the bedroom to change into properly held together clothing. Yusuke sighed. He had forgotten how crazy the other girls were about what was proper and what wasn't. He wondered how long they were staying for.

"Yukina, my sweet, I've missed you too much!" Kuwabara proclaimed loudly. Hiei snorted and disappeared up the stairs, not even sparing a word for his sister. He had treated her like that ever since she found out he was her brother from Koenma. Her seeing Kuwabara hadn't made his shame any better.

"Kuwabara," Yukina blushed. She still hadn't gotten over public displays of affection. She hadn't even gotten over the strange emotions, really.

"Well as fun as this is," Yusuke sneered at his friend, "I've got better things to do." And he pounced on Keiko, who smacked him in the head. Kurama shook his head and left the room chuckling. Living with his mother was well enough, but living with his friends was a whole different experience, and it was one he enjoyed immensely.

The large group ate dinner together that night, the Hanshoku growing quiet over the realization they would be parting again, and soon. Dinner had only been finished, the dishes just cleaned, when one of Koenma's portals opened in the yard. With tears, the sisters were forced to say good bye once more.

"Keep trying with the Serpentine!" Sagaku said to Usagi. "It worked for me. Maybe it just needs a little more time for you." Usagi gave her sister a weird look.

"I'll keep it on, but so far it hasn't done anything," she said, touching the charm around her neck, "but you have to promise me that you'll stop acting so…so horrible! Papa would have a fit if he could see you being so…forward. It's not right." Usagi said in a dire whisper to Sagaku.

"I'll try." Sagaku muttered, not quite meeting Usagi's eyes.

"No, Sagaku. You've never been quite right, but you're going to ruin yourself if you don't start shaping me up. Promise me."

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**I really can't wait until I finish writing this story…I love the way it's coming out =]**


	16. Broken Promise

**I feel obligated to let you all know that I do not, under any circumstances, own YYH or its characters. The lovely Warren characters are still mine though ^.^**

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The Quiet Before the Drama**

"I promise." Sagaku said softly, looking down. Her sister hugged her, and then followed the others out the portal. The Serpentine thumped against her wrists comfortingly, and she caressed the stones with her finger tips. Acting proper had never felt quite right, but her sister was right. If she got into bad habits now, Papa would never be able to find a suitor for her. Turning back into the house, her promise was forgotten as Yusuke and Kuwabara tumbled into her, wrestling with each other. Kuwabara flipped Yusuke over, locking his arms behind his head.

"Take it back!" He yelled angrily.

"No! Keiko is much prettier than Yukina!" Yusuke snapped, nailing Kuwabara in the back with is foot.

"Guys, stop this!" Keiko yelled.

"Seriously, Kazuma, this is ridiculous." Shizuru drawled.

"Not until he takes it back!" Kuwabara said with his face pressed against the carpet.

"Not taking it back!" Yusuke crowed, getting Kuwabara in a head lock. Sagaku leapt onto Yusuke's back, knocking him down on the floor. She sat on his back happily looking down at his hold on Kuwabara.

"I think I could do that too," she said, "can I try?"

Hiei, who had been standing at the head of the staircase, smirked. The spirit detective should have seen it coming. He had spent the entire time encouraging the girl to try new things. Keiko and Shizuru were shocked into silence momentarily, but then they burst out laughing, followed by Kurama. Kuwabara and Yusuke untangled themselves from the mess on the floor, both burning red.

"I think I like you, girl." Shizuru clapped Sagaku on the back. Keiko laughed, agreeing.

"You're much more fun than the boys," she grinned at the bashfully smiling Hanshoku.

"Thanks," Sagaku smiled, looking down. _See,_ a little voice in her head whispered, _they like you as you are. Why be "proper?"_

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_Falling asleep was getting harder and harder with each passing night. At first it was because Iwaku, Tarento, and Ririshii always squirmed closer to her, subconsciously terrified of losing her again, but as the days rolled on it became something else. Sometimes she wasn't warm enough, or she couldn't lay right because of the wrinkles on the bed. And then it was because she was getting restless. Her father should have been able to find a new safe home for them. What was taking him?

There had only been one demon to visit them since she returned to the ningenkai; the young, restless raion had took off running when confronted with four guys and their weapons. Hiei had taken after him, and Sagaku had a sinking suspicion that the raion was dead, even though he hadn't tried fighting. She couldn't complain, though, not when it was done for the safety of herself and her family. Her entire family was getting just as anxious as she was, as she learned the first time they all tried talking via communicator. It had been a disaster – there were too many of them to use only four communicators.

Sagaku was pacing in the kitchen, her fingers tapping on different surfaces, when Kurama stopped her.

"Sagaku, if you'd like to go outside I can watch you from here." The kind kitsune nodded towards the window. "You're fighting has improved. I'm sure you could hold off any demon until I got there."

Sagaku snorted, not feeling very kindly herself. Her fighting had not improved. The only that had improved since she got back from her very brief captivity was the number of moves she had in her repertoire. But Ririshii had heard Kurama's offer, and demanded the fresh air. She wanted to play in the grass and sit in the sun. Watching her sisters learn to fight wasn't the same.

Outside, Sagaku was just as mindlessly restless. Even her Serpentine stones weren't helping her in the least. Ririshii didn't notice her sister's angst, and rolled around in the grass laughing. Sagaku looked at one of the trees in the large yard and then ran at it, kicking off the trunk at an angle to propel herself higher and higher. The canopy of the tree was dark and shaded, beneath the last layer of leaves separating her from the sun, and Sagaku paced on the sturdiest branch up there, out of sight of her sister and Kurama. She was sick of being watched, sick of being stressed. She wanted to go home, to be with her sisters and Papa.

Kurama frowned when Sagaku disappeared up in the tree. He couldn't feel any other demon signatures nearby, but that didn't necessarily mean it was safe for her to be up there.

"Why are you worried, fox?" Hiei asked, leaping up onto the window sill. He could see the younger Hanshoku petting – yes, petting – Kurama's flowers. They had bloomed high in the time they'd been in the location, growing fast with the help of Kurama's gift.

"I don't think Sagaku's happy." Kurama admitted. "The younger girls are doing fine as long as Sagaku acts okay around them, but they've been here for a month. Most of that month has been without the rest of their sisters."

Hiei didn't answer right away, his eyes roving around the yard from his perch at the window. He was glad it was a wooden sill and not a marble one. The marble ones were un-giving, uncomfortable, and too cold. He could sense the girl at the top of the tree, and when his eyes focused in at the spot he could see the leaves at the top of the tree shaking as she paced back and forth on the branches. Her balance had improved since she started learning how to fight.

"Why don't you ask Koenma how much longer until her father can take her back then, stupid fox?" Hiei asked, almost reasonable before his biting comment at the end of it.

"I will. Maybe he'll have some idea." Kurama said distractedly. "Keep an eye on the two of them, will you? I'm going to go find the other two."

"They're with the idiots." Hiei said before Kurama could leave.

"Well, if you'll watch the girls anyways, I'll go call Koenma now." Kurama decided. Hiei nodded, with his trademark "hn" and Kurama went to go get the communicator from Yusuke.

It was a cinch to get into the older girl's head. She was a broadcaster at most times, and she had no guards up protecting her mind. The best he could say was that she was aware of him in her head, though she didn't try controlling her thoughts. Kurama had been right about why she was so anxious. She wanted to be with her sisters again. She liked the boys – Hiei was startled to realize that she even liked him despite the distance he kept – but she was starting to get comfortable with this new life and it scared her. She wanted to be with her sisters again, down in some hole hidden from the world, so she could escape from the new feelings and objects and people that she was beginning to love in a mild way.

To Hiei, it sounded like a stupid reason to be upset. Except, with a small amount of anger at himself, he realized he had done the same thing. But he had gotten over it. He came back when the toddler called and he was even staying in a house with the others. True, he avoided them mostly, but still…he wasn't hiding away like he used to. He wouldn't say he loved the team, but he was tolerant of the baka ningen, and even though the spirit detective was abrasive and sometimes stupid he didn't mind being around him. He had never minded being around the fox, except for when the fox tried cleaning up after him. The girls were just a mild invasion on the friendship he had spent years pulling away from.

Yes, Hiei decided, the older Hanshoku was being stupid and overly dramatic. But he could still see where she was coming from.

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I've finally written the part where Hiei and Sagaku get together…sorta. Hope you all are looking forward to it =P And the title of this isn't a joke...there's drama to come. Yay Drama!  
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	17. Consequences

**This is all 'cuz I still don't own totally BA characters like the YYH gang…but admit it, you're totally jealous of Sagaku and her mad breeding powers…LoL, or maybe not.**

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* * *

Broken Promises Have Consequences**

"Sagaku, Koenma has requested a meeting with you present for tonight." Kurama told the girl shortly after she had collected Ririshii and brought her back inside.

"What for?" Sagaku asked, startled. She was helping her favorite of the four men to prepare dinner. Once she had finally gotten a hang of all the appliances in the kitchen, she found that she really enjoyed cooking.

"It's about you and your sisters going home." Kurama told her in a solemn voice. Sagaku dropped the spatula she had been holding.

"Tonight?" She asked unhappily. Kurama blinked in a surprised manner. She wasn't happy to be going home soon?

"Well, I don't know about that. Koenma just wanted to meet with you tonight." The confused fox told her. Sagaku was torn between happiness and sadness – she longed to be with all of her sisters again, but she was happy with her life of questions she was allowed to live here.

"Thank you," Sagaku bowed to Kurama, lowering her eyes. She should have kept her promise to Usagi. Life was going to get really difficult now. Kurama was shocked by her change in manner, but he refrained from mentioning it to her. It was Yusuke and Kuwabara who skipped the tact and went straight to haranguing her.

"What's wrong, Saga?" Kuwabara asked her, pushing Yusuke over to sit down next to her. Iwaku climbed over him to sit half on Sagaku.

"Nothing is wrong." Sagaku answered, cursing herself for having let go of everything her Papa had taught her. A few weeks with new people and she was acting like a total barbarian – her Papa would be appalled.

"No, you're acting different. Something's up. What is it?" Yusuke prodded the side of her head, but she kept her eyes focused on the floor, her head tilted slightly down as was proper. Iwaku looked at her curiously, and then around at the guys.

"Why are you acting like this?" She leaned in and whispered to her big sister.

"We're going to be going back to Papa sooner or later. It's time I get that through my head." Sagaku responded to her little sister. Iwaku frowned, glad she was still young enough that Papa hadn't truly taught her manners. Sure, she knew what they were, but since she didn't "officially" know, she could act just like Ririshii and Youji, the youngest of the litter. Tarento stared at Sagaku like she had grown another head.

"Did someone say something to you? Was Mazui here?" Tarento asked. She sniffed the air, but only found the familiar scents of the boys and the three sisters there with her. No one else had been to the house.

Sagaku sat through similar questions throughout lunch, and then dinner. She helped Kurama clean the plates, remaining quiet. There was a lump in her throat, one sure to spell out disappointment, but she swallowed it. She was Hanshoku, and she had her place in the world. There was no way she could lose it just because of some passing fancy that she could be accepted differently. Sure, she would always have friends…but she would never have a mate. And as a breeder, life without a mate would be a torturous life indeed.

The blue-haired, pink-clad reaper, Botan, that Sagaku had met a few times briefly arrived at the house only moments after Yusuke and Kuwabara had talked Iwaku and Tarento into taking Ririshii upstairs for bed.

"I'm keeping an eye on them." Kuwabara saluted Sagaku goofily, momentarily forgetting that she was not herself. She bowed politely to him, and then followed Kurama and Yusuke to the portal Botan was standing beside. Hiei followed them the others through, rolling his eyes at the baka onna. Really, she would be better off if she stopped thinking about the Hanshoku way. But his thoughts drifted quickly, focusing on more important matters (to him).

The five of them, including Botan, stepped into Koenma's office. Usagi was there, as well as Mazui, Minkan, several unfamiliar demons, and…her Papa.

"Sagaku!" He beamed warmly at her, surrounding her in a hug. The Spirit Detective, Yusuke and Hiei all stared in wonder. This man was "Papa?" He was huge! The Hanshoku were notoriously small, and Sagaku stood only up to his ribs. His arm was thicker around than her body was. He had thick, sun-bleached brown hair, craggy skin, and shining blue eyes. He frowned at the boys over Sagaku, and then turned to Koenma. "Were all of my girls kept by just men? Do you understand what that could do to them?" He snapped at the prince angrily.

Yusuke was bristling at the insinuation, but Sagaku beat him to it, albeit politely.

"Oh no, Papa, they were very polite and they were not at all forward." She tried to assure her father. He pushed her away from him, advancing on the brown-haired teen with "Jr." stamped on his forehead.

"You said you would keep them away from male demons, and yet I find that they've been STAYING WITH MALE DEMONS!" He roared at the future ruler. Koenma glared.

"Jitsu, I owed you a favor and I paid it. You will do well not to complain about the form it was repaid in." Koenma tried to say calmly and diplomatically. His voice betrayed his anger.

"Hn. As if anyone else could have kept them safe." Hiei surprised everyone as he flitted to stand between Koenma and the ridiculously large man.

"And you!" Jitsu sneered at the fire apparition. "The forbidden child. It must have been heaven for you to be near so many young girls who would not know of your disgrace."

"Papa," Sagaku tugged at his elbow, "please calm down. It was fine. Nothing happened." Her assurances were ended there as he swung his arm back, sending her flying at Yusuke and Kurama.

"Sagaku, stay quiet." Usagi hissed at her younger sister. Sagaku's temper flared though, and there was an odd, coppery taste in her mouth.

"What is that on your wrist?" Jitsu caught a glance at the Serpentine. Sagaku's face fell as she tried to hide her arms behind her back, but her father strode at her again in a fury, forgetting about Koenma for the moment. Usagi hid the pendant around her neck quickly. Kurama stepped in front of Sagaku.

"Sir, it was necessary. She was attracting a large amount of demons to the human world when she went into heat." Kurama dodged the heavy fist, pulling out his rose. Hiei appeared at his side in a split second, and Yusuke stood straight, focusing and taking aim with his finger.

"How dare you talk about her in that condition?" Jitsu snarled, ignoring the flash of light as the rose elongated into a thorny green whip. Sagaku stood on stiff legs, dragging down Yusuke's hand. He glanced at her, but his chocolate eyes were angry and fierce. Hers were determined.

"I was going to give up my freedom to be back with you." She told her Papa. She stepped between Hiei and Kurama, meeting her father's eyes for the first time since she'd hit puberty. He flinched. Usagi and Mazui were standing in front of Minkan, all of them looking down and shaking. They had never seen their father angry before…he had always been so gentle, and so kind. With a growl, he slashed out with claws she had never seen before, his eyes growing wild. This time, she focused on the stones he had gotten so uptight about, and he was forced back by the blinding yellow light that spilled from the greenish stones.

"I'm taking my girls back." Jitsu forced himself to calm down, turning to face Koenma though his back was stiffening. If he had hackles, they'd be raising. "All of them. Go get your sisters," he commanded his daughters, though he didn't turn to Sagaku. She stood, frozen in spot, her lips forming a surprised 'o.' He was going to take them away. She thought she had wanted that. With tears forming in her eyes, she turned to the portal, stepping through quickly.

"Girls!" She called up the stairs. Iwaku and Tarento appeared in seconds, both tense. "It's time to go home. Get Ririshii." Sagaku ordered, her mind whirling in circles a hundred miles a minute. What was going to happen? She was going to spend the rest of her life acting the way she had acted all afternoon? She was just going to get married off? Look at her, she wasn't right as a Hanshoku!

"Papa is back?" Ririshii asked hopefully, running up and hugging her older sister.

"That's right." Sagaku said, not even waiting for Kuwabara to follow the girls down. She hurried them into the portal, trying to force her mind to stop. It couldn't, especially not with the stones burning against her as they were. She stepped through, arriving with the rest of her sisters. All seventeen of them crowded into Koenma's office as they had once before.

"We're going home." Jitsu's voice was terse, and most of his daughters crowded around him eagerly, hugging him and each other. "Koenma, a portal." His voice was strained as he attempted not to lose his temper. Koenma may have been sneering behind his binky, but he waved a hand, agreeing to form the portal to the image in Jitsu's head. As soon as it was formed, the girls began rushing through. Sagaku stepped forward, but was stopped by her Papa. His arm barred her way.

"Not you." He sneered, and followed his other daughters through, leaving one in Koenma's office, frozen in place. She blinked rapidly as the portal slowly faded shut. Her sisters were gone. All of them. Gone.

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***Le Gasp* So now what happens to the lovable bunny demon? Sure, it might be predictable...but who knows =]**


	18. A New Horizon

**I got more reviews! I know it's silly to be excited about that, but it still made me happy =] And I promise Sagaku doesn't roll over and play dead (figuratively speaking) later in the story!**

**Once more (with feeling, if you're a Buffy fan) I don't own YYH or its nifty characters. But enjoy the characters that are mine ^.^**

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Making Plans**

"It's okay, Sagaku, you can stay with us." Yusuke told his friend, worry clouding his voice. Kurama stepped forward, trying to put his arm around her. She was shaking too hard to let him. Koenma and Botan stood shocked, as well as the two stranger demons.

"I think I'm going to go. That was too much for me." One of them said with an accent. The other one nodded, agreeing.

"Sorry; Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei," He intoned with an entirely different accent. And the two of them disappeared as well.

"What an asshole." Yusuke growled, referring to Jitsu. No one else said anything, but they were all thinking it, except for Sagaku who was still in shock. Even Hiei was affronted, and he had refused to speak to his own sister since she inadvertently found out about their relation.

"You guys," Koenma said softly, "it's still imperative that you keep her safe. I don't know what Jitsu is going to do, but if she's already reached the age where she's going into heat, than that means she can bear young. I don't need my enemies making hordes of babies to attack me in the future."

Kurama nodded numbly, taking Sagaku's arm and pulling her gently towards the portal still waiting for them. Yusuke and Hiei followed, silent.

"And another thing," Koenma said before they disappeared, "Since it's only her now…you're free to go back to your own lives. You don't have to keep her secluded. The scent of one breeder is nothing compared to the scent of four, let alone seventeen." He sighed. He was going to miss the five girls who Botan had been watching. They were odd in their ways, but they had been sweet, too.

The portal was closing behind them when they arrived back at the house, and Kuwabara was tapping his foot with his arms crossed.

"So what was that all about?" He asked the silent crowd. "And where are the girls?"

"They went home, you idiot." Yusuke snapped at Kuwabara, and then glanced guiltily at Sagaku. It didn't feel right to pick fights with his buddy when she was so depressed. Kuwabara opened his mouth to ask why she was still here, but Yusuke aimed a punch at his mouth. They immediately began bickering and fighting, Kuwabara's question forgotten.

"I'm not a good Hanshoku anyways." Sagaku decided, her voice reaching only Hiei and Kurama. They both looked at her, Hiei taking the liberty to slip into her head. The pain was palpable, and sent him roiling back. She didn't even look at him.

"Why do you say that?" Kurama asked her, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"I have small boobs and a small waist." Kuwabara and Yusuke, done fighting, blushed at her bluntness. "I'm too curious and I never remember to act properly. I don't even like acting properly. My coloring is wrong and unpleasing. And I went into heat early. I'm sure that means something bad too. I don't need to be with them, I don't need Papa to pick out a suitor for me. Maybe I'm meant to do something else other than breed." Sagaku sighed, ending her short speech. She looked up, her dark eyes meeting each of theirs, briefly, showing them what she meant. Her eyes were black with brown and yellow glints instead of shades of blue, her hair honeyed-brown instead of blonde. Even her skin was beginning to tinge with signs of sun.

"I'm sure. And there's nothing wrong with the way you are." Kurama patted her kindly, and then watched her walk up the steps, away from them.

"Now does someone want to tell me what's going on?" Kuwabara grumbled. Yusuke hit him again, but ended up explaining what had happened. Kurama pulled Hiei aside.

"Can you…watch over her? You're the only one who can do it without crowding her." Kurama whispered to Hiei.

"Hn. She will get over it. But fine, I'll keep an eye on her." Hiei smirked at the red-head, and then dodged up to his own room upstairs, leaving the fox to wonder if he had intended the pun.

Hiei sat in his room, cross-legged on his bed as he closed his eyes and focused on the rabbit onna. She was in her own room, gasping to herself, holding in sobs. She hadn't even said bye to her sisters, hadn't realized what her father was going to do. Forcing the sobs down, she grasped the Serpentine stone on the bedside table, and clutched it in her fist, focusing on it. It thumped rhythmically, calming her, soothing her. Her mind slowed down, began to drift off…_learn_ it whispered. _Learn to fight, to call on the stones again. Learn the real way of the Hanshoku._

Her sleep was a mere shadow of the rest she was used to. With no sisters, she had been freezing the entire night. Her mind was clogged, too, with weird ideas and pictures.

* * *

"We're leaving for our homes today." Kurama told Sagaku as she joined the four men down in the kitchen. "You're going to be staying with Keiko for now. Her apartment is next door to Yusuke's, and I live just down the road." He began filling her in on how their new living arrangements were working. Hiei, who had his own apartment much to her surprise, was within walking distance. Kuwabara lived the furthest away, with his sister Shizuru, but even he was a mere ten minute car ride away.

"I want to get a job." Sagaku announced, as soon as Kurama was done explaining everything.

"Why?" Yusuke asked, truly puzzled as to why she would want to waste her time working if she didn't need to.

"How else am I going to make money?" She asked, almost snidely. "It's not like I could just live off of you guys for the rest of my life. I'll work, and that way I won't be a burden."

Three days later, after having been dressed by Keiko and Shizuru for an impromptu interview, Sagaku began waitressing at a restaurant next door to the one Keiko's family owned. It was weird, having responsibilities outside of her family, but she liked waitressing. She liked meeting all the new people, and though she didn't like serving people, she did it well enough. It was the constant smiling that grated on her nerves at first – she really wasn't happy, and Keiko had to impress it on her many times before the interview that she had to smile. Within days, though, Sagaku found that she didn't mind smiling. Not really. Sure, she was still torn up inside…she would be, probably forever, but she liked living with Keiko.

The only huge problem she had was sleeping. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get over seventeen and a half years of sharing a bed with her family. No matter how many blankets she piled on her bed, she couldn't make it warm enough. It was on one of her really restless nights that Hiei popped in to check on her.

"Hiei!" Sagaku leapt up to give him a hug like she always did with Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, but remembered in time to check herself. "What are you doing here?" She asked, hesitantly. It was the first time she'd seen him since they moved into the city.

"Kurama asked me to check on you. Says he hasn't heard from you in a week." Hiei examined her with his sanguine eyes. "You don't look sick. Why are you worrying the fox, onna?" He asked. He settled on her window sill as she sat back down on her bed, covering her nightgown with one of the many blankets.

"I work at least two shifts a day. I just…don't have time to call him every day anymore." Sagaku leaned back, studying the youkai. "It was different the first month or so I worked there. They had me on hostessing like half the time. Now they want me there 24-7 for everything. I guess they don't normally have long-time employees."

"And you make enough to…live." Hiei didn't phrase it as a question, but he truly was curious. Waitressing seemed like the worst job ever, and he couldn't imagine doing it unless it was worth so much money.

"Keiko and Yusuke (who had moved in recently) don't make me pay rent, so it adds up. I'm leaving soon, so I'm saving it all." Sagaku laid back down, curling up in the many blankets, and putting her head down in the pillow.

"Why were you awake when I came in here?" Hiei asked her, looking at the bags under her dark eyes. Sagaku chuckled a little.

"It used to be me asking all the questions." She teased the black-haired demon. "And I don't sleep much. I can't."

"Why is that, onna?" The demon asked, looking nonchalantly out the window, getting the nice view of another apartment building.

"I still miss them…" Sagaku yawned, her eyes fluttering shut. Hiei glanced at her, rolling his eyes. It wasn't often he offered to talk to someone, and here she was falling asleep in the middle of the conversation. "You make the room…warmer." Sagaku muttered, as Hiei turned to open the window and make his escape. "If I thought you would stay, I would ask…" But she was sound asleep. Hiei paused. If staying made it easier for the onna to sleep, he would stay another few minutes. And only because he had nothing better to do.

Hiei left through the window only a few hours after he had appeared at the apartment, and headed back to where he lived. He would have to remember to let the kitsune know how the girl was doing. It didn't even occur to him to wonder where she was leaving to.


	19. Farther Away

**YYH isn't mine, various other characters are. Now that we have that over with, I'm going to tell you all that one) I really appreciate the reviews, and I want to say thank you to everyone who left them. So thank you guys =] and two) I know this chapter is kinda funky because it covers a lot of time, but this is a YYH fic and I didn't want to spend ten chapters explaining her time away from them. All I can say is that after this, she's totally going to be the character I had planned in my head ^.^ So enjoy!**

**Also, IMPORTANT: In a few chapters it's going to get sexual. I am not writing lemons, but it is heavily implied that it's there. I'm just warning you – it shouldn't be too offensive, but if you're uncomfortable with it, now might be a good time to end. She's a breeding demon, after all. She couldn't go forever without sex -.-'**

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Foreign Lands, Foreign Plans**

Sagaku woke up in the morning after a surprisingly pleasant dream, grinning and stretching luxuriously before untangling herself. She seemed to roll around at night a lot. Somehow the sheets and blankets always ended up all around her. Hiei had been there the night before, and it wasn't just a dream. She could still smell the smoky scent that followed the little fire demon. Ever since that one night, whenever she didn't contact Kurama he sent the little fire demon to check on her. But it was a good night, and it was going to be a good day. Maybe today would be the day that she could finalize her plans. She only needed another hundred dollars, and if she got good tips…well, she would wait and see. If not today, than tomorrow.

It was her lucky day. At first, during the lunch hours, the restaurant had been slow, but it was summer vacation and by three in the afternoon students were coming in to eat. In the evening, several parties came in. In total she made one hundred and twenty three dollars, which meant she would be able to leave for America as soon as she bought a plane ticket. She would finally get to fly.

Leaving for America wasn't for good, she kept reminding her friends as she packed. All of them but Hiei had showed up, and they were crowded in her room.

"I'm going to miss you, Saga." Keiko said tearfully, leaning against Yusuke. Sagaku grinned at her, throwing a pile of very similar shirts into her suit case. Kurama kept pulling her crumpled stuff out and folding it before returning it to the suit case, and she was happy to let him do it.

"I promise, Keiko, I'll be back before you know it!" Sagaku stopped packing long enough to throw her arms around her friend. "At the most, it will be seven months. Maybe eight."

"And you're sure you want to do this?" Kurama asked her, patting the top of her head as she leaned against him. She grinned like a fool. It had been such a long time since they'd all been together, and she loved the contact. They all understood her need for it, and complied as much as they could.

"Of course I'm sure. Koenma says if I get strong enough he'll find a job for me as a guard. And I've learned as much as I can from you guys! But let's face it, no one knows much about the Hanshoku except that we can have freaking babies. I've got a hunch, and someone in America is going to be able to help me. We've been emailing for months now." Sagaku breathed in, zipping up her suitcase. She only had one.

"Don't miss us too much, brat." Yusuke nudged her arm in a brotherly way. Sagaku jumped on him, knocking him to the floor before snuggling for a brief moment, and then bulleting at Kuwabara. Unlike Yusuke, he didn't fall. Instead, he caught her and threw her into the air like he had the first time she was learning to fight. She squealed happily, and threw her arms around his shoulders in a giant hug. He smiled tearfully, but put her back on the ground so she could hug Shizuru. Then she turned to Kurama, her best friend.

"I'll keep in contact. And as soon as I can, I'm coming back." Sagaku whispered to the redhead, burrowing as deep into his arms as she could get. She breathed in deeply, memorizing his scent of rose and earth, before separating, and waving good-bye to the people she loved most in the world, or at least as much as she loved her sisters.

And with that last wave, she stepped into a taxi. She would return almost eight months later and be welcome, but until then she had work to do.

* * *

America was a strange place to be, especially since she had been in the human world for only a little more than half a year, but once she got over the shock of how large the Atlanta airport was, Sagaku found that she rather enjoyed the bustling and rushing. It was overacted and exciting.

Sagaku's contact was a seven hundred year old demon, though he only looked to be about twenty. When she first saw him at the airport, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. He looked very similar to Hiei in body-build and height, but his hair was chocolatey and fell around his head in a weird sort of mane. His eyes were reddish, in certain lights, but usually they just appeared magenta. And his attitude was entirely different. Instead of avoiding all contact, he took her hand as soon as they were introduced, and didn't let go until they were on their way to his house.

"So Sagaku, you need my help." He grinned infectiously at the slightly shorter brunette, who smiled hesitantly back. She had tried being shy at first, but he was so comforting and pleasant that she found her shyness misplaced. "Lucky for you, my mate knows a lot about Hanshoku." He glanced up from the road to study her face for a second. "He's been around twice as long as I have." He admitted.

"When Koenma first gave me your email, I thought it was a joke." Sagaku told him, pushing the cold blast of the AC away from her. "I didn't think there was anything about the Hanshoku to know. But now that we've discussed it a little…well, I'm looking forward to being educated." She smiled at the man, and then leaned back in the seat, ready to fall asleep. It had been a long plane ride.

Shoseki was her contact's name, but he preferred to be called Sam, just to fit in better with the American culture. His mate, who knew so much about the Hanshoku, was Nenriki, but he preferred being called Ned. It was part of the façade they used to acclimate into the culture. They began to call Sagaku "Saga" just as Kuwabara and Ririshii had, to avoid stares of their friends and co-workers.

Ned was technically Hanshoku, though the term didn't apply to males. His three sisters had long since been mated and finished producing young of their own, for the most part. But his knowledge didn't come from them – it came from his mother, who had practiced different talents before child birth had killed her.

The knowledge he passed on to Sagaku had to do with the Serpentine she wore. She kept the anklet and bracelets on her at all times. She even had the larger chunk of it that Kurama had given her made into a choker. But it didn't end there – the Serpentine had been an old wives' tale. The real secret was that Sagaku could tap into any stone. Ned and Sam helped her collect the different stones and experiment, learning which each stone could do for her. They also learned how to make it the most effective – by keeping it close to the body.

"My dad would scream if he could see me know," Sagaku leaned in, grinning at the two lovers conspiratorially, "To him, it's improper for a female to adorn herself with jewelry."

Sam made a show of scanning her body while Ned tilted his shaggy blonde head one way and then the other.

"Jewelry? I don't see any jewelry." Sam giggled, his violet eyes squinting. Sagaku stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh, let's get that pierced too!" He clapped his hands together. Sagaku laughed, and quickly retracted her tongue before he could get any more ideas.

"No, I have enough piercings." She smiled at them, tucking her bangs behind her ears to show the piercings that lined her ears. That was where she wore most of the small stones. The only other piercings she had were her belly button and nose piercings. The only reason she had allowed her nose to be pierced was because the small quartz felt right there. She absolutely refused to get any more piercings, though – the lady who had done most of hers had looked absolutely terrifying with metal sticking out of odd places. She didn't even use proper stones, just tempered metal.

The rest of the jewelry was worn as a belt with large amethysts, a garter with garnets, bracelets on her upper arms and wrists, rings on each finger, the chopsticks she had taken to using to pin her long hair to the sides of her head, the anklet Kurama had given her, and the many necklaces around her neck. It had bothered her at first, being so gaudy, but it was the best way for the stones to feed from her energy and for her to use theirs. The pulses were always strong, keeping her going.

It was time for her to leave, though. She had spent a good number of months with Sam and Ned, had come to love them in a brotherly way, but she had her best friends to return to. She had promised to go back before eight months were over, and she was on her way. As soon as she finished removing her jewelry to get through airport security.


	20. New Talents

**YYH does not belong to me, much to my despair.**

**Other characters do, I think you all know YYH well enough to differentiate =]**

**Warning: There will be implied sex in some of the upcoming chapters. **

**And I'm sorry I skipped over eight months in one chapter…but obviously if she's in America she's not with the YYH group, and that seems kinda contradictory what with this being a YYH fanfiction ^.^' Also: 20th chapter! Woot! And I ended up deleting two days worth of work last night because I didn't like the way the story was going. So I'm a little behind now in the story, but don't worry, I'm catching up fast =]**

**

* * *

Reunion and Changes**

Keiko jostled at Yusuke, trying to get him to move his head out of the way. She couldn't see the people getting off the plane.

"Do you see her?" She twisted to look at Kurama and Kuwabara. Both were scanning the crowd carefully, searching for the familiar brown-eyed girl. Hiei stood angrily beside them. Koenma had been giving him small missions, enough to keep him busy in both the ningenkai and the Makai. If the toddler wasn't paying him so well, he never would have agreed to do them, but it beat his mindless wanderings. Ever since Mukuro had found a nephew, he'd needed something to do. Either way, he had gotten back just in time for the group to drag him to this over-crowded, smelly, disgusting place. Just to see the stupid onna get back from America.

"Oh my gods," Yusuke whistled. Keiko hit him in the back.

"What is it, do you see her? Where is she?" She asked her boyfriend. He tilted his head at an angle.

"I think it's her." He sounded unsure of himself, and then started chuckling. "No, I'm sure it is. Definitely our Sagaku."

"SAGA!" Kuwabara suddenly belted out, catching glimpse of her as well. Kurama's jaw practically dropped as he finally spotted the little Hanshoku as well. Shizuru followed Keiko through the crowd, jumping on the ecstatic girl, and Kurama rushed forward to hug her and take her bags. She actually came back with two of them, this time. Kuwabara and Yusuke sauntered to the girl, leaving Hiei to follow grumpily. It wasn't until they were all done greeting her, and hugging her, that they moved aside enough for Hiei to finally set eyes on the rabbit demon. If he hadn't been so schooled, his eyes would have widened in shock.

Sagaku stood before him in a brown skirt knotted up at her hip. It wasn't like the brown skirt she had worn when she lived at the warren – the longest end of it just covered her right knee. The other side was a good four inches above her left knee. She was wearing sandals instead of just running around barefoot, and she was wearing a tank top just like she did since she was first forced to wear human clothes. It wasn't even the fact that she was baring her stomach that shocked him. It was the stones that cluttered her body, glinting each time she moved. If he had still been a thief…and her masses of hair were looped messily into what had at one point been sloppy buns until it half-fell out at the sides of her head. And she was staring him right in the eye, smirking.

"Did you miss me, Hiei?" She purred, but she didn't hug him as she had her other friends. Instead, one arm twined around Keiko, who smiled and put an arm around Sagaku as well, and her other hand snaked to Kurama's, entwining fingers with him.

"Hn." He sneered at her. She laughed and turned back to look up at Kuwabara and Yusuke.

"I can't believe how much I missed you all! Even you, oh silent one." She smiled at all of them. Hiei scowled at her. He hadn't even thought about her when she was gone, so he certainly couldn't have missed her. But he didn't mind having her back. "What's happened since I've been gone?" She asked, meeting everyone's eyes as they trouped to the parking garage.

They regaled her with tales all the way back to the apartment she would once again be sharing with Keiko and Yusuke.

* * *

"Yukina's _pregnant_?" Sagaku was gasping when they finally arrived. Hiei growled deep in his throat. He still wasn't happy about that, but at least Kuwabara hadn't dishonored his sister. They had been married before Yukina got with child. She still wasn't even showing signs of it. "I was wondering why she wasn't there! I thought maybe she was afraid of me." She winked at Kuwabara. "Maybe it's not me she's afraid of!"

"Oh, Saga, you're doing so much better now! I've never seen you so happy!" Keiko squealed and hugged the girl again.

"So are you gonna explain all the bling?" Yusuke perched on the arm of the chair Keiko was just settling onto as everyone found seats in the living room. Sagaku just left her suitcases on the floor in her room before joining them.

"Well, it's pretty cool." She leaned forward, her eyes glittering. Hiei listened to the explanation with everyone else, curious as to why the girl seemed so different now. Maybe it was because he had never seen her happy. Or maybe he just didn't pay attention to her before she had left, except for once or twice. Perhaps she hadn't changed at all.

"Each stone carries a different property," Sagaku was showing each accessory separately. "These," and she pulled her bangs back to show her glittering ears, "are all different forms of protection. I can call on them for healing internal pains, external pains, mental pains, and even emotional pains. That's why they're smaller jewels – they're not so much defensive as helpful. This one," she tapped the side of her nose, "is a Crystal Quartz. It helps amplify the powers of the other stones, and when I use them, it amplifies my power as well." She went through the rest of the stones, explaining each one, including the ones adorning her chopsticks. Hiei almost blushed when she pulled up her skirt to show the band around her thigh, used to hold many, many Garnets to her leg. She said she used it to determine information, saying it lead her to the right conclusions. Hiei almost snorted when she said that. It was a weird place to keep an informational stone.

"And, of course, these." Sagaku wrapped up her explanations for her new accessories, touching the Serpentine around her neck and wrists. She held her ankle forward so they could see the one there as well. Kurama smiled, remembering the frantic search for them.

"So that's what you went away to learn," Kurama said, "About the stones."

"If you hadn't learned about the Serpentine, I never would have thought about it. Apparently all Hanshoku are able to tap into the stones, but since most of us never leave our dens once we're breeding…well, it's almost a lost art." Sagaku yawned, stretching. They subtle muscles in her stomach flattened, showing off her belly ring once more. She had been really proud of that Aventurine.

"We'll let you go to bed. See you in the morning, Saga." They all hugged the girl, except for Hiei, before she tramped into her bedroom, closing the door and collapsing on the bed. It was early evening now, in Japan, but the plane ride had tired her out. And she hadn't talked that much in so long.

When Sagaku woke up, it was morning; however, the sun hadn't even risen yet. She opened her bedroom window, climbing carelessly onto the outside ledge. Ned and Sam had taught her a lot about fighting and balance. She was nowhere near as good as the gang, but she was always sure of herself now, and things like the tiny ledge didn't bother her.

It was such a relief, seeing her friends again. And being near the youkai reminded her of the last time they had seen each other, when he had stayed in her room to help her sleep. She grinned at the thought. He probably didn't know she was aware he had done that, but her body had noticed the second he left the room. All the heat had left the room with him.

Sometimes she still had trouble sleeping. Actually, it was most the time. In America, it had gotten so bad that Sam and Ned had taken to letting her sleep between the two of them. They had hundreds of years together, they explained to her, so a few months of a girl being in bed with them wasn't the end of the world. Sagaku tried to imagine climbing into bed with any of her friends here and found that she couldn't.

Kuwabara was married to Yukina, and unlike Sam and Ned, they hadn't been together for a very long time. Keiko was sleeping with Yusuke, and either way that would have been awkward. She didn't know Botan well enough – heck, she didn't even know if Botan actually needed sleep, being a reaper and all – so that wouldn't work out. Kurama was much too chauvinistic to be comfortable sharing a bed with her, even with no intents. Hiei wouldn't even allow her to touch him.

She could always go find a stranger to sleep with. But she laughed out loud at that folly, her fingers brushing the onyx necklace that dangled a ruby between her breasts. Ned had explained a lot about sex to her, so the next time she went in heat she would be better prepared. She hadn't even really known what sex was the last time she did, but at least now she would understand the strange urges.

At first she had tried to convince Ned that she wouldn't go back in heat, especially not with the Serpentine. But nature would prevail, he said. And he said it would even be soon. The Serpentine would only hold it back for so long. Sagaku was forced to laugh again. Less than a year in America and she was already associating everything with sex. The "that's what she said jokes" were constantly flaring through her head.

As soon as Yusuke and Keiko were up, Sagaku made them some eggs for breakfast the way she had eaten them in America – scrambled and smothered in hot sauce.

"What are your plans for the day?" Keiko asked, carefully biting into the spicy eggs.

"I'm going to pay Koenma a visit and see when he can start giving me work." Sagaku answered, putting a mug of coffee in front of the zombie-like Yusuke. He took it with a muttered thanks. "After that…I don't know. Maybe visit a park. I saw one in America and it was great…I think I'd like to see one here, too."

"Make sure to take someone with you." Yusuke grumbled at his friend, his head slowly clearing with caffeine.

"I'm able to protect myself now, you know." Sagaku grinned as she poked him. Keiko shuddered and agreed with Yusuke.

"You really do need to take someone with you," she informed Sagaku, "The rebellion ended in Makai, and some demons escaped through illegal portals. They've been hiding out around the world, but especially around here."

"Oh. Yeah, if I do end up going out I'll grab a buddy, then." Sagaku said thoughtfully, wondering if the demons would bother her. Probably. They would bother anyone weaker than them, and the stones didn't affect her energy. The demons wouldn't be able to sense them.


	21. A Rock In The Hand

**Despite any desires and dreams I have, I do not truly own YYH. OCs are mine though =] Well…obviously.**

**First time you get to really see what Sagaku can really do =]**

**

* * *

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty**

Koenma, in answer to the communicator Sagaku sent messages to until he flipped it open, opened up a portal for Sagaku to enter through. She joined him, Botan, and the ogre George in the young ruler's office.

"Do you want work right away?" Koenma was asking the Hanshoku as Botan fawned over her many earrings.

"Yes sir. I can't wait to start using what I've learned." Sagaku grinned flashed a feral grin at him.

"Then I'm giving you your own communicator." Koenma rummaged around the room for a moment or two, before ordering George to find a communicator for him. George ran off, in search of a working one. "Every time demon energy flares I'll let you know. You'll be able to capture them alive?" he asked. Sagaku nodded, stroking one of the many gems around her wrist.

"And I can keep them that way until you have them imprisoned. Then it's your job."

"It's a deal." Koenma nodded appreciatively at George, who had just returned with a communicator, and handed it to Sagaku. She took it with a bow, hugged the blue-haired reaper, and returned back to the apartment.

* * *

Her body was quivering with the need to do something now that she was back at home.

"Keiko? Yusuke?" Sagaku called, peeking in the few rooms to see if her friends were available. They seemed to have left for the day. "Change of plans, then."

She held the house phone up to her ear, pushing some of the numbers from the list printed and taped to the refrigerator. The other line rang…and rang…and rang. By the time it got to the answering machine, Sagaku was tapping her finger impatiently against the receiver.

"Hey Kurama, it's Sagaku. Going to the park. Catch up with me there if you get the chance!" And then she hung up, eying the door. Keiko and Yusuke had said it was unsafe, but she was stronger now. And they didn't understand how much stronger.

Sagaku locked the door behind her, tramping down the steps of the apartment building. Four flights of stairs passed quickly in dreary colors, but her world brightened instantly when she stepped outside into the sun. There were clouds in the sky, but they were distant enough to be of no concern yet. The nearest park, she had learned, was only to blocks away. If Kuwabara had lived closer, she would have called him and asked her to meet her there. She really liked the carrot-topped oaf. He tried so hard to appear tough, but she had seen him snuggle with his kitten and throw her little sisters into the air just to see them laugh. Plus, Yukina was pregnant, and it wouldn't be fair to take him away from her. She had seen him the last night, and that was enough.

"Hey sexy," someone said to her as she walked down the sidewalks, but she ignored the beckon. The young teen didn't persist.

"Baka onna, you shouldn't be out here." A voice snapped at her. This time she did turn, her lips turning up into a smile. Hiei didn't smile back, but just stared down at her with sharp eyes.

"I know I shouldn't, but I've been away from Japan for almost a year. I need to see it, breathe it. Can't do that from the apartment, no matter how hard I try." Sagaku let her smile falter, and looked down. She had been thrilled to see Hiei because she had thought of him as a friend. It was part of him being on the team. But maybe he didn't think of her as a friend.

"Why are you here?" He asked her, his voice still snappy but not as intense.

"I'm going to the park…you know, to see and breathe and all that." Sagaku said hesitantly, tilting her head. Why was he asking questions instead of ordering her to go back to the apartment?

Hiei started walking in the direction she had been walking in, looking back and stopping when she didn't follow. With a start, she hurried after him and he continued to the park. She started leaning into him, but seeing his nerve-inducing glare, took a healthy step to the side.

The park was beautiful, but much different than the ones in America. When Ned and Sam had taken her to a park, there was grass but it was mostly sand and mulch. While there were scenic trees and flowers, with benches and pretty stones, it was mostly swings and slides and statues. The park she walked to with Hiei was full of trees and mostly green. It was quiet, too, and lacking of overflowing trashcans.

"Koenma said you're taking jobs with me now." Hiei finally said, breaking the silence. This new Sagaku was slightly unnerving…the quietness was unexpected.

"With you? He didn't mention that to me. Just said he'd call and give me jobs." Sagaku was mildly surprised. Maybe Koenma had other things on his mind, though.

"Hn." Hiei fell silent again. He had wondered if the onna had asked Koenma to be put on the same jobs as him, but she sounded sincere. When he felt for her familiar mind, he was shocked to find that he couldn't sense it.

"I felt that." She turned to him, her dark eyes narrowing threateningly. "I have protection against that, now." Her fingers grazed two stones resting on her earlobes. "My first piercings." She smirked at Hiei. He 'hn'ed again, and glared at the space in front of them. "So what are the jobs that you do? How hard are they?" She questioned the fire apparition, stepping closer to him again. Luckily for her, she refrained from touching him. Hiei sneered in his head. Maybe she hadn't changed.

"Easy. The demons aren't working together." He finally answered her, and then stopped walking. With a speedy leap, he disappeared from her view. He didn't want to work with a partner. He had no real motivation now that Yukina was being taken care of by that baka ningen, and he didn't want the stupid onna to cut into the last activity he was really allowed.

His plan of ditching her, now that he had decided she wasn't cutting into his killing time on her own choice, was foiled as Sagaku followed him up into the trees almost as quickly as he had left.

"You taught me to climb trees. Of course I knew where you were disappearing off to." Sagaku laughed, but closed her eyes and leaned back on the branch, letting her arms dangle down as she stretched out. She stayed silent, after that, so Hiei finally allowed himself to get comfortable. He had claimed the tree first, after all.

That night, Sagaku went to sleep worrying about working with Hiei. He didn't like her, and she had a really hard time being comfortable with him. He hated when she grabbed onto him, but sometimes she felt like she needed the physical contact to function. With Kurama, Keiko, Yusuke, and Kuwabara it was okay – they didn't mind if she got too close to them, or if she grabbed their hands.

By the time she woke up she was feeling better. She could work alone, easily. She would just pretend Hiei wasn't there as much as she could. He would appreciate it, and maybe if she ignored him she wouldn't have that urge she got with every living thing to freaking snuggle. It was undignified.

Kurama had been there when Sagaku called. Hiei had been with him though, and was trying to admit something to the fox, so he hadn't answered. Instead, Hiei got to hear Sagaku's message and told Kurama to disregard it. He would meet her at the park. Now, before Kurama went to his classes at the university, Hiei told him what happened.

"It sounds like Koenma thinks the demons are going to start getting stronger." Kurama decided, putting his books into his bag. "Although, I don't necessarily see how Sagaku is going to be able to help. How strong do those stones make her?" He mused.

"Hn. I'll let you know as soon as I find out." Hiei snorted, thinking the girl couldn't possibly be strong. At least not strong enough to truly fight.

"Tomorrow's Friday. I plan on taking her out to catch up. You should join us." Kurama offered the youkai. Hiei didn't answer the fox, but watched him leave the room. The redhead gave him a small smile and a wave before taking off for his first lecture of the day.

Kurama had hardly left the room when Hiei's communicator began beeping at him. He pulled it out of his pocket with a growl. He hated the damn thing.

"Outbreak about twenty minutes from where you are. Three demons this time, head due north-east. You'll sense them when you're close. Sagaku's meeting you there." Koenma's voice gave him the order, but then there was a large curse and then something crashed and Koenma roared at the ogre. The communicator turned off.

Hiei jumped out the window, heading due north-east. It didn't even take twenty minutes, and the onna was crouching nearby, waiting for him.

"One of them is a _panther_," Sagaku whispered excitedly to Hiei. She was watching them stalk a female ningen, cornering her in an alley. Two of them were approaching from one end, and the guy she had been trying to get away from was slinking in behind her.

"Hn. Let's go." Hiei said, briefly wondering how they were going to manage working together. He had never even seen her fight, except for foolish training over a year ago.

"Dibs on the kitty." Sagaku dodged out of the tree, cutting between the panther demon and the alley entrance. Hiei went for the other two, feeling as though he had got the upper end of the deal. He cut between the demons and the alley as well, leaving the human unaware of the danger she had just been in.

Sagaku landed directly in front of the panther. His hair was black tinged with shiny blue, and he had green eyes with long pupils. His skin was pale white, and very smooth looking. He eyed her with interest, before his nostrils flared curiously.

"A little bunny, all for me?" He grinned so she could see his sharpened teeth. "So are you close to your mating cycle or should I just kill you to get instant gratification?" His giant hands fell on her shoulders as he pounced. Sagaku landed on her back, but it was her turn to grin at him.

"A little kitty, all for me?" She asked, before rubbing her fingers over the red stones on her right wrist. The panther demon fell back, crying in pain as he grabbed his slightly angled ears. "Are your claws sharpened, or should I just kill you now for instant gratification?" Sagaku's finger moved to the black, flat stone a little higher up on her arm. The demon fell to his knees. Sagaku lay her fingers against his cheek. "You know what, don't answer. I don't much care about your claws." Three stones in her many rings flashed, and then the panther fell backwards, dead.

"You killed him, onna." Hiei said from his vantage point above her. He was perched on the roof of the low building.

"I was under the impression I was supposed to. How do we, you know, get rid of the bodies?" Sagaku looked at the dead demon with a grimace. She had never hauled a body before.

"Report to Koenma. He'll clear it." Hiei told her, standing before stepping off the roof, landing beside her. "Tell him there's two more on the other end of the alley." And then he took off running, leaving the report to Sagaku. She sighed, and reached for her communicator. Apparently not getting close to him while working would be no problem whatsoever.

Kurama was just leaving his second class when he noticed his short friend waiting for him.

"Hiei!" He said, surprised. He brushed by two of his classmates with an apology to get to the fire demon. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Hiei looked surprised as well. Why did Kurama think something was wrong? "I just had a mission with the onna. She killed her opponent."

"Killed him?" Kurama was now wide-eyed with shock. "I didn't think she…could." He admitted.

"Hn. Neither did I."


	22. Same Stuff Different Day

**Still don't own YYH…I know, I'm disappointed too .**

**I do own the Warren characters (aka Hanshoku, which coincidentally translates to breed. Haha, coincidentally? Nah, I looked it up.)**

**Also: While this may not be exciting to you guys, I'm so super thrilled! I made Dean's List at college!**

**

* * *

An Upcoming Problem…All Over Again**

Sagaku, having cleaned up, was sitting at the park. Sure, Yusuke and Keiko had said not to…but what else was she going to do while everyone was out and about? She tried calling Kurama again, but this time a woman picked up, kindly explaining that he was taking classes. He would be home later, she would let her son know that Sagaku called. It had provided a brief awkwardness when Sagaku had not been able to produce a last name.

The apartment hadn't changed at all since Sagaku had left, and neither had the neighborhood. With a bored sigh, she left the building again and headed for the old restaurant she used to work at. When she first entered, the manager froze while she stared her over. She vaguely recognized this brunette girl, but it took her a full minute to place that recognition.

"Sagaku!" She gasped, and hugged the girl. Sagaku grinned and hugged the human back. She hadn't gotten hugged yet that day.

* * *

"You don't need any servers at the moment, do you?" Sagaku asked her old boss. The manager looked around. The place was packed for lunchtime, and despite having four servers, another one wouldn't hurt.

"You can take some tables if you want," the manager began, "but I can't give you tables all the time." She looked at her old employee nervously, wondering how she would take it.

"That's fine. Can I just come in some days then, and if you have work I'll take it?" Sagaku bargained. The manager nodded, beaming. Sagaku smiled as well, and went to the back just like she used to, picking up a little black notebook, an apron, and a tray. Finally, something to do.

Sagaku left the restaurant as soon as the dinner rush was over. It was close to nine at night, and it was dark outside, but she whistled a little tunelessly as she waved goodbye to the manager, collected a hastily written check, and took all of her tips from the apron before she folded it up and put it with the rest of the dirty aprons. She was still whistling when she trudged up the steps of the old apartment building and entered the living room she shared with Yusuke and Keiko.

"Oh, you're okay!" Kieko fell on Sagaku the moment she was passed the doorway, tears streaming from her face.

"Of course I am," Sagaku reassured her, puzzled, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You weren't here, and none of us could reach you." Yusuke told her. Then he glowered at her angrily. "Way to be retarded, Sagaku! Way to make us worry!" He punched her in the arm, but since it wasn't hard enough to do more than sting her arm a little, she ignored it, settling for a bewildered look instead.

"You guys were all busy!" She protested. "I was just working!"

"Are you saying Koenma contacted you and not me, onna?" Hiei's voice was seething. He stepped forward angrily, only to be stopped by Kurama.

"Calm down, guys. She's okay. Obviously we over-reacted." Kurama said soothingly. Sagaku put an arm around Keiko's waist, snuggling closer to her friend.

"What did you guys think happened to me? I was just at the restaurant. I want to start saving up money again and Koenma's jobs aren't going to be steady." Sagaku let go of Keiko, deciding instead to latch onto Kuwabara and Yukina. "Yukina! Congratulations!" She hugged the ice apparition. They had only met a few times, but she liked the girl well enough. It was the first time she'd seen her since getting back.

"Well, you didn't return from your mission, so far as we could tell." Kurama told her. "Keiko and Yusuke thought you might be with me, but I hadn't heard from you today. When I found Hiei, he said you and he had parted ways hours ago. Kuwabara was working all day, so you couldn't have been with him. We were worried, with all the demon activity that's been around lately."

"Kurama," Sagaku left Kuwabara and Yukina to climb onto the fox's lap, "I'm a demon too, don't forget." She ignored his startled look as she curled up under his arm, making herself comfortable. "You guys don't have to worry about me. I can fight and I can protect myself. I learned a lot in America."

"Hn." Hiei turned and left the room. Sagaku rolled her eyes.

"I don't think he likes working with me." She confessed to her friends. Yusuke chuckled, slowly getting over his anger.

"Hiei doesn't like working with anyone." Yusuke told her.

"It's true," Kuwabara said loudly, "Yusuke almost had to kill him before he would even start respecting Urameshi."

"Don't take it personally, Sagaku, he's doesn't mean anything by it." Kurama pat her head, almost pricking his fingers on the chopsticks.

"Oh, I won't take it personally at all." Sagaku grinned at her friends. "Since we're all here tonight, can we do something?"

Kurama had class the next morning, but he promised that come the afternoon he would be able to spend time with her. Kuwabara had to go home with Yukina, who seemed to get sick in the afternoon instead of in the morning. Keiko and Yusuke offered to go out with her, and though Sagaku was sad to not be with the whole gang, she was thrilled to have fun with the couple. They went out to see a comedy film, and then on Sagaku's request, to an arcade. She wanted Yusuke to teach her how to use the weirdly lit machines.

* * *

Several days passed with no orders from Koenma, although she received a bank statement to the account she used to deposit her savings in. He had placed a large sum of money in it as payment for the first task she had completed with Hiei. Even though she didn't really need to, now, she still went back to the restaurant. Sometimes the manager turned her away, but more often than not she needed Sagaku's help.

Finally, the demons started acting up again. It felt unfair when there was only one and she and Hiei took it down together, but there were occasions when they were outnumbered. There was even an occasion where they had two separate missions at once. It was the first time Sagaku had taken down a demon without a partner to be there in case something went wrong. Luckily, nothing did.

The demon fighting went through ups and downs. Some weeks it was horribly busy, keeping Sagaku and Hiei on their toes. Kurama and Yusuke went out and helped them when it got that bad. Kuwabara couldn't, not with Yukina expecting. Then, there would be days, weeks, of nothing. It was fraying Sagaku's nerves, and it was also the reason that she didn't notice the warning signs at first.

* * *

"You," an unrecognizable demon twined around her softly, "smell absolutely delicious. Mouth-watering. What are you?" Sagaku twisted out of his grip, breaking one of his wrists in the process. He had four of them.

"I don't think that should matter to you." Sagaku informed the four-armed, axe wielding beast. "But if you must know, I'm a Hanshoku." She kicked up, hard. The demon went flying up into the air. It had been one of the first moves she'd learned. Standing on his arms, she leaned down and twisted his head sharply. The thick neck cracked.

"What did he say to you?" Hiei asked. He always finished with his demons before her, even if he had multiple and she only had one. It was irking, to say the least.

"Just the usual threats." Sagaku said absentmindedly, and then made her report for Koenma. He would send clean-up for the bodies.

She called Ned and Sam that night.

"I'm not surprised." Ned said, when she told him what she suspected was happening. "It's happening even later than I thought it would. I truly expected it to happen while you were here."

"So what do I do about it?" Sagaku asked helplessly.

"Nothing." Ned said firmly. "You ended it last time, but it's dangerous to do that if you don't have to. It's really dangerous."

"You probably have a few more days anyways," Sam stole the phone from his mate, "so find somewhere to hole up. Your boss will understand."

"I'll figure something out." Sagaku shuddered, remembering how frigid she had been the last time she went in heat. "Thanks for your help, guys."

"Take off the Serpentine!" Ned shouted into the phone, trying to steal it back from Sam. "They'll just confuse your body, you need to cleanse them before you can use them again!"

They said their good-byes, leaving Sagaku to wish they had been there with her in person. She didn't want to deal with this mess again, especially now that she knew what was coming. She fell asleep shivering that night, dreaming of being with her sisters again. What she would give to be at home with her Papa…and it had been almost a year since he'd taken them back. Youji and Ririshii would be getting big…

"Onna, wake up!" Someone snarled angrily in Sagaku's ear. She muttered and hugged her sister tighter, rubbing her face against the warm pillow. She was too comfortable to wake up. But then her sister pulled away, angrily, leaving Sagaku to leap up in surprise.

"Hiei!" Sagaku cried, embarrassed. Her nightgown was horribly rumpled, the long sleeves pulled up against her elbows. The fire apparition was staring at her with such fury that Sagaku winced, hugging her arms to her chest and bowing her head.

"Koenma's been trying to reach you. We have a mission." The fire demon crossed his arms, too, staring her down as he waited.

"Uhm, Hiei," Sagaku said after a moment's pause, "I can't go like this."

"Hn. I know, onna, hurry up." He snapped at her.

"You need to leave the room." Sagaku pointed out. She didn't look at his face to see what his reaction was, just waited until he jumped out her window, and then hurriedly pulled on a tank top and her skirt. Hiei was waiting for her when she rushed outside, still clipping on some of her stones. The Serpentine stayed on her bedside table, Ned's and Sam's warnings still ringing in her ears.

"What's the mission?" gasped Sagaku as she ran after Hiei.

"Four demons, undetermined ranks. They're attempting to tear open a new portal." Hiei told her, before picking up speed. Sagaku followed suit, running even faster. A new portal would mean more demons – and who knew how many more.

"Sometimes," Sagaku sighed, "I wish they could be just a little more creative."


	23. Taking Precautions

**Well, I just finished writing the majority of the story. So that mean's I can post a lot of chapters, whenever I want =P A little encouragement might not be off though ;)**

**Of course, YYH doesn't belong to me, the other characters do, yada yada yada. **

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* * *

Spikey Demon**

When they found the demons, it wasn't on purpose. The four demons were just as surprised as they were. Unfortunately, one of the demons recovered before Sagaku was able to, and his thorn-covered fist slammed into her face. Two of the other demons leapt forward, but Hiei intercepted them. He was holding them off with his katana, but the last demon was inching behind him. Sagaku wasn't able to help him though, because the thorn-covered demon was very, _very_ interested in her. And the way his nostrils flared didn't bid well for her.

"You would think someone would have said that a jewel like you was in town, sweetheart." The demon growled low in his throat, pushing his nose closer to her neck as his fist left her face and reached to her shoulders, pushing her back until she tripped over a bench. There were small thorns in his hands, tearing at her skin. The aciculate slivers were sliding against her until warm, red blood beaded.

"A jewel like me?" Sagaku grunted, shaking off the pain. "Sweetheart? Maybe someone should have let you know not to mistake me for a girl like that." She kneed him as hard as she could from her half-upright position. The bench dug harshly into her back.

"So you prefer something more intense? Should I call you whore? Slut?" His fingers were sharp and painful, digging harder into her shoulders. She could hear Hiei fighting, but she couldn't look away from the demon. Everything about him was sharp, and those green-tinged teeth looked like a weapon of their own… "Allow me to introduce myself. I am –" He broke off with a loud, furious yelp. Sagaku wielded the chopstick she had worked free from her hair like a small dagger and dug it into his hand.

"I'm not interested in anything you have to call me. And you are asking for me not to kill you, to allow you to suffer instead." Sagaku gasped in pain as he dug his knuckles into her collar bone. She took aim with her chopstick again, this time at his eye. He hissed, green pus pouring out onto her hand. "Ugh!" She cried in disgust, but it had been enough. The weird demon fell off her. She reached for the white stone around her neck, ready to call on it.

"Oh no you don't, bitch!" With a hand clasped over his bleeding eye, the demon shot a large, green spike at Sagaku. She twisted to dodge it, but he was already shooting a second and a third spike. One hit her in the side. The other one grazed by her thigh.

"Oh yes," Sagaku twisted again to avoid a fourth spike, "I do." The white stone flashed in her fingers, and she reached for another stone. The Tiger-Eye sparked and as she focused on it, the demon cried out in anguish clutching at his other eye. She pulled out another chopstick, her hair falling in a tangled, knotted mess. With a battle cry that she regretted later, she raced at the green demon, her chopstick in front of her like a tiny lance. He heard her coming, thanks to the cry, and thrust his hand out, another spike forming in it. She didn't have time to dodge. Neither did he.

One of the other demons tried to leap at her, to end her while she was down. She tore the third chopstick from the endless knots falling around her shoulder, and stabbed it through his throat, wondering when the pain from the spike in her stomach would start to hurt.

Hiei saw the onna get hit, out of the corner of his eye, and he killed his last opponent in time to see her kill her last opponent as well. She was still standing, though she looked a little dazed. He turned, to see if he could stop the portal from opening. There were strange red markings on the floor in front of a small, swirling mass of light, but upon closer inspection he realized it was chalk and not blood. He kicked his black shoes over the odd symbols, and the portal began shrinking. When the last symbol was smudged, and then finally erased, the beginnings of the portal disappeared. There were shrieks coming from it up until the last second.

Seeing that the stupid rabbit demon wouldn't be able to report to Koenma, Hiei made the report himself. The toddler promised to send a clean-up crew. For a second, Hiei entertained the idea of leaving the onna there for clean-up, but she had fallen to the ground. They would probably mistake her as one of the rebel demons. With a sigh, he bend and lifted her with all intentions of throwing her over his shoulder. Seeing the spike still in her stomach he opted instead to carry her in front of him. With a glance around to make sure no one was watching, he took off to his apartment. He would have to take care of her there.

"I think it's starting to hurt now." Sagaku murmured into Hiei's shoulder.

"Hn. I think it's supposed to." The fire demon snapped at her. The damn onna was nuzzling his shoulder, her hands gripping around his neck even as she was dying. No wonder there weren't many Hanshoku around the Makai. They had the oddest priorities.

Sagaku couldn't help pulling herself closer to Hiei. He was so warm – warm enough that he even distracted her from the green weapon pulling and tugging awkwardly against her shirt, skin, and muscle. She craved the warmth. It was one thing she missed from living in a godforsaken hole in the ground with her family.

"Let go of me, onna." Hiei ordered, trying to put her down as he awkwardly tried to open the door. She let her feet touch the ground, but didn't relinquish her grip on him. He'd never let her hold onto him before. With less grace than usual, due to the injured demoness clinging to him, Hiei unlocked his apartment's back door, stumbling inside with Sagaku. He dropped her mercilessly onto the cold tile floor, leaving for his bathroom. He came back a few seconds later, finding Sagaku petting her hair as she hyperventilated, trying hard to ignore the large object sticking out of her.

Hiei didn't warn her, knowing from experience that it just made the moment more intense, and grabbed the spike, pulling it out. Her hands formed fists, punching out blindly. He pinned her down, rolling his eyes. Of course she would make it difficult. He swabbed at her stomach. It was bleeding, but the large spike hadn't even pierced any organs. The blood was pooling onto the tile, dripping off her stomach, so he finished cleaning it quickly before lifting her up to wrap gauze around her entire stomach, holding a clean pad of cotton to the wound. Her shirt was entirely ripped and coated with blood and grime.

"You're really hot." Sagaku muttered, sliding in her own blood in an attempt to press herself against his thighs as he knelt. He allowed it, only because he was starting to pull thorns out of her shoulder, neck, face, and wrists. "Really, you feel like a furnace." She buried her face against him. Hiei tried really hard to ignore her as he cleaned the scratch on her side. Her leg was bleeding too. It was her last serious wound.

With clinical detachment, Hiei hiked Sagaku's skirt up just as high as he had to, rubbing a cleanser against the already dry blood. She had managed to dodge most of the hits the demon had aimed at her, and this too was just a mild graze. He bandaged it anyways, and then pushed her away from him, eying her distastefully. What was he supposed to do with her now?

"I should have left you for Koenma to take care of." He growled at her, wondering if Kurama would come pick her up. Or maybe he could just drop her off at the Spirit Detective's place. Her fingers twined around his hand as she yawned, and her eyes fluttered shut. Yeah, he was definitely dropping her off with the hanyou and his girlfriend.

* * *

Sagaku woke up to Kurama's pleasant green eyes. He was examining the small scrapes on her face, smoothing a nasty-smelling ointment over them.

"Morning, 'rama." Sagaku yawned hugely, right in his face. He laughed, and gave her a pat on the cheek.

"Hiei says you took out a Class A demon all by yourself." Kurama congratulated her. Sagaku frowned.

"Was he a Class A? I thought he just caught me off guard."

Kurama just chuckled and finished checking up on the wounds. Hiei had done a good job cleaning them up the night before, and they were all reasonably small, all things considered. The worst one was the one on her stomach, and it wasn't even infected.

"Go back to sleep, Sagaku. You still need to rest." The kind fox-demon ordered his friend. Her eyelashes were fluttering shut already.

"Sleep with me?" She muttered. Kurama sighed. She hadn't asked him to do that since her father had left her behind, and he still had to give her the same answer.

"I'm sorry, Sagaku. I truly am. You know I can't, though." Sleeping in bed was too personal, and while it meant nothing to the Hanshoku, it would feel wrong to him since he didn't have feelings like that for the younger demon.

Hiei checked on the onna that night, coming in through the window. She was fast asleep, caught in some dream. He got close enough to peek at her wounds, and seeing that the fox had in fact treated them, he went to back away.

"Fire," Sagaku whispered softly, moving closer to the window in her sleep. She stopped stirring though, and groaned before turning to her other side, off the scratch. Hiei left.

Sagaku woke up the next morning, feeling as well rested as she would ever be. Her stomach protested each movement she made, but she stumbled into the bathroom in her room. She stripped the nightgown off her body, wondering who had put it on her. She hadn't been wearing it when Kurama was checking up on her. Turning the water on, she stepped into the cold shower. No matter how many times Yusuke and Keiko tried to convince her that hot showers were better, she preferred water the natural way. The fact that it was coming from a pipe was already bad enough.

When Sagaku finally made her way to the kitchen, both Yusuke and Keiko were sitting at the table. Keiko jumped up when Sagaku stepped in.

"Don't scare me like that!" She cried at her friend, bursting into tears. Yusuke sighed and dropped his head to the table.

"Keiko, we've been over it a few times. They're minor wounds. It's her job to get beat up. Yada yada yada. And Sagaku, if you ever scare us again, I'm setting Keiko on you." Yusuke teased both girls.

"Deal. If I screw up that badly again, you have my permission to beat me up, Keiko." Sagaku told her friend. "But in the meantime, do you guys want to help me find Kurama's campus? I'm sure he has classes today, and I know you two have plans (they always did) and I think I wanna stick with someone today."

"Why not Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"One, he has a job, and two, Yukina's expecting." Keiko said, exasperated at her boyfriend. "It's not fair for anyone to take his attention from her in her fragile state."

"Exactly." Sagaku agreed, rolling her eyes with Keiko to share in the disbelief that Yusuke didn't get it.

"Fine," Yusuke groaned, "I'll drive you to campus. I have to run by a few stores anyways."

Sagaku and Keiko exchanged glances, wondering what stores Yusuke would have to go to. There were no holidays coming up, and past that he avoided stores as much as possible. Sagaku didn't dwell on it though, and accepted the ride from her greasy-haired friend. The campus was small, but crowded. Sagaku sat on a bench, optimistic of the fact that Kurama would find her.

She must have been there for over an hour, turning stones over in her fingers mindlessly; she was in a light meditative state when the beautiful redhead sat next to her.

"Sagaku," his hands went to her hair, lightly touching her, "are you okay?" he asked. Sagaku leaned into him before answering.

"I'm fine for now. I have a problem coming soon though." She told her closest friend. Kurama stiffened beside her.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kurama put an arm around her, pulling her closer.

"Pretty soon, I start my cycle again. There are rebel demons all over the place. See the problem?" Sagaku wouldn't meet Kurama's eyes, ashamed at the amount of trouble she was causing all over again. Ad she wasn't even some naïve seventeen year old this time. Ned and Sam had truly explained everything – _everything _– about being in heat.

"Why can't you use the Serpentine to absorb it again?" Kurama asked, frowning as he realized she wasn't wearing the protective stones.

"It's unhealthy to stop it from happening so much. It's natural. Plus, I need to cleanse the stones before I'm able to even consider it again." Sagaku explained in the fewest amount of words possible.

"I see." Kurama swallowed. "This is a problem. We need to find you somewhere safe to say. Maybe with Koenma? Or at Genkai's?"

"I want to stay here. I don't want to leave my home again." Sagaku swallowed. "I just had to…let someone know. In case something happened." She stood, bowed to her friend, and walked away. Kurama was left on the bench, trying desperately to find a solution.


	24. Logic Killed the Fire Demon

**La de da… We all know what goes up here, what with me not owning YYH and all that…fun stuff…on with the real fun, though ;)**

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* * *

Logical, But Unfortunate**

"What's wrong, fox?" Hiei dropped from the trees, landing beside his friend.

"I think we need to find a guard for Sagaku again." Kurama groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Hiei's eyes narrowed.

"Is she…?" he didn't finish the question. No matter how natural the topic was, it was hard to discuss that he had a weakness, never mind that all males did.

"Yeah. And it's not like she can stay at the apartment, not while Keiko is there. Yusuke can't defend her twenty-four seven." Kurama couldn't help but groan again. His friend was very dear to him, but the fact that she was specific for breeding definitely caused a bit of stress.

"And she can't stay at your house." Hiei observed.

"Not with my mom and her husband and my step-brother there. I can't let them be made a target of." Kurama leaned back on the bench, and then turned speculatively towards the fire apparition. Hiei's crimson eyes narrowed as they frequently did when he was around the old team. He knew what the fox wanted of him. It was logical – he was strong enough to protect himself and the onna, if she needed the protection. Plus, there was no one else at his home he needed to keep safe. No one else who would be put in danger.

"Fine. But only once it starts, and she's out the second it ends." Hiei finally gave in to the emerald puppy eyes. He was going to be putting his self-control to the test. But he knew he could do it, no matter how hard it got. "Let the onna know she is to report to me." He commanded, and then took off, trying to get his head around what he had just offered to do.

Kurama went to the apartment his three friends shared that night, ready to inform Sagaku of the plan. He stayed over dinner, laughing of the antics of Keiko and Sagaku as they chased Yusuke out of the kitchen when he kept trying to sneak bites of the cooking food. He strategically waited to talk to Sagaku. After dinner, when Sagaku was cleaning the dishes and the two others headed to the living room to pick out a movie to watch, Kurama let Sagaku know what his plan was.

"Hiei agreed to this?" Sagaku asked, shocked, as she leaned against her taller friend.

"I won't say he was enthused, but it was the logical decision." Kurama grinned apologetically at the rabbit demon. She stuck her tongue out at him, twisting the tie in her hair. Since she had used three of her chopsticks, she had taken to using an elastic to keep her hair in order. She didn't particularly like it, but it was better than leaving her hair free to get messy.

"Write his address down to me. It's going to be any day now, and I think I vaguely know where he lives, but it's better safe than sorry." She ordered Kurama as she scrubbed the last dishes clean.

"I will. I'll leave it on the table in your room." Kurama gave his friend one last hug, wishing he could help her more. She swatted him playfully after hugging him back.

"Come on, Keiko and Yusuke are going to start thinking we ditched them." And so off they went, to go watch a silly romantic comedy for the next hour and a half.

Kurama left for home, feeling better now that he knew Sagaku would be taken care of. He had a kind heart to begin with, but she had become a close friend since the day she first punched him in the nose.

Sagaku went to bed that night, checking to see that Hiei's address was on the table like Kurama promised. Her stones all pulsed softly, soothingly. She knew it was coming. And soon.

* * *

Hiei stayed up, sitting in his room staring at the stars from his window. It was only because he was sitting against the glass that he noticed the girl rushing towards him, glancing nervously around with each step she took. She disappeared at the entrance of the building and Hiei stood, going to the door. It was late, already in the morning hours. The familiar feel of Sagaku's mind was headed towards him.

His door was locked, but the small girl threw herself at it. She had hurried there, in her pajamas and all, the second she was alerted to the change happening in her body. There was no shame in her mind – she wasn't going to take risks when it came to this.

Hiei took his time opening the door, steeling himself against the scent that was about to fill his apartment. The frightened demon in front of him hardly resembled Sagaku, except for the metal and stones. And the ridiculous, long-sleeved nightgown. He stepped aside silently, letting her into his apartment for the second time. She stepped in awkwardly, closing the door and locking it behind her. With a nervous swallow, she began twisting a strand of hair around her fingers.

Sagaku desperately wanted to throw herself at the fire demon. Every second that passed just made her colder and colder. He was staring at her so dully though that she shrank back against the door, flattening her palms against the solid wood. Last time had been so…_mild_ compared to this. Last time she'd surrounded herself by her younger sisters and stayed in one room. Why didn't she take Kurama's offer to go to Genkai's? Other than the fact that the old lady had no patience for rabbit demons whatsoever.

Hiei's eyes widened slightly when her scent began to saturate the room, but he immediately started breathing through his mouth. Too bad he hadn't expected her yet…he had no plans at all. The onna couldn't stay out in the living room. That was where the kitchen and the bathroom attached to. With a growl that almost ripped into a snarl, Hiei stalked to his bedroom, grabbing one of the many pillows on his bed, and taking sheets and blankets from the closet. Than he marched angrily back into the living room, throwing the armful down on the couch. Sagaku stepped warily forward, but Hiei shot her a glare. How did he get demoted to a couch in his own house.

"Get in there." He told the onna icily, pointing at his room. Her eyes flicked to it with surprise, but her mouth tightened.

"I'm not kicking you out of your own room." She argued, surprising Hiei once again. He closed his eyes and rubbed his face. She was going to make this very difficult.

"Onna, you can't stay out in the living room. There's too much I need out here. Go. To. The. Bedroom." When she hesitated again, Hiei took a hold of her arm and pulled her the extra seven steps to the bedroom door, pushed her inside, and closed the door.

"I feel like you're my evil step-mother." Sagaku muttered from inside his room. His temperature was flaring. That demoness was invading his territory. He forced himself to calm down, reminding himself why she couldn't stay out in the open. He wouldn't let his guard down purposefully, but better safe than sorry.

Sagaku looked nervously around the dark room. It was very plain, all things considered. The walls were white, and the only decoration hanging up was a pair of crossed katana. The bed was covered in black sheets and a black comforter, with multiple pillows leaned against the headboard. It was a little smaller than the bed she had shared with her sisters almost a year ago, but it was bigger than the bed she had at the apartment. She wasn't sure how she felt about sleeping on it.

By the time Sagaku got settled in to attempt sleeping, the chill in her bones was setting in, sending shivers and tremors down her back. She curled up in the thick comforter that smelt too much like the youkai and willed herself to sleep.

Hiei, out in the living room, paced angrily for a few minutes before finally settling down. The fox should have remembered that he didn't have an extra bedroom. But Kurama had probably just assumed that she would be sleeping on the couch. Unfortunately, her smell was too strong to leave her unprotected by a door. What if other demons broke in? And he was, unofficially appointed by Kurama, her guard.

Sagaku spent the night dreaming of fire and heat, and the things that Sam and Ned had described to her. She woke up on and off, uncomfortable in the room and wishing she had someone to make her feel better. It was during one of these wakeful periods that a thought popped into her head – one that she pushed as far away as possible, where it wouldn't come back to bother her. But it still kind of hovered as she tried to force herself to sleep again.

She couldn't ask for comfort from Yusuke, because that would be a betrayal of Keiko. The same went for Kuwabara and Yukina. Kurama wouldn't, because he would need the emotional tie. Hiei…who knew? Maybe, if she played the cards right…

* * *

The next morning, Sagaku hovered at the bedroom door, wondering if she was allowed out of the room. Hiei, who was back to pacing in the living room, heard the errant thought, and flung the door open. Sagaku 'meep'ed but slunk out of the bedroom, and into the bathroom. Hiei immediately switched to breathing through his mouth again. The smell better come out of her room the second the onna left.

After taking care of her morning needs, Sagaku crept into the living room. Hiei was polishing one of the katana from the wall, turning the sleek and shiny silver blade into a surface so polished it could almost be a mirror.

"I'm sorry." Sagaku finally said to the fire apparition. She had her arms around herself again, trying to warm up her body. Hiei pretended not to notice.

"For what?" He finally asked.

"Coming here like this. I know Kurama said he talked to you about it, but I didn't, and I guess that's not really fair…" Well, no, it wasn't really fair. But Hiei understood the fox's reasoning.

"Don't apologize." Hiei ordered, and then went back to polishing the blade. Sagaku watched him in silence for a while, until there was a knock at the door. She looked at it and then peered nervously at the bedroom door, wondering if she should go hide. It had been so long since the last time she'd been so anxious, and she didn't relish the feeling.

Hiei cracked the door open, and then seeing the familiar, bright red hair, he flung it open.

"Breathe carefully." He ordered the fox. Kurama nodded, immediately beginning to take breaths through his mouth.

"I take it she's here, then." Kurama asked the fire demon. Hiei nodded sourly, glancing back to where Sagaku half-cowered. The onna had hardly been here for long at all, but she was already making a nuisance of herself.

"Feel free to take her with you." Hiei muttered. Kurama shot him an exasperated look, and then took a wary step towards her, checking his control. As long as he didn't breathe through his nose he would be fine. The smell was still there, but much fainter.

"You're okay?" He asked his wary friend. She took a few quick steps towards him, looking at Hiei to judge his reaction. If Kurama and Hiei weren't acting up it must be okay. She launched herself at Kurama, holding him tightly around the ribs as she started to cry. The twinge in her stomach from her healing wound didn't even give her pause.

"Oh dear," Kurama pat Sagaku on the head, knowing he could only hold the upset girl for a few minutes before he would have to leave. Youko was stirring inside him with the scent of a female demon in heat, and so close to him… "It's going to be okay, Sagaku, it's only for a little while."

"I know." Sagaku muttered into Kurama's chest. "But I don't like it at all." Kurama remembered all those months ago when he had read the book on Hanshoku. The author had said being in heat was "uncomfortable." He was beginning to think it must be torturous, if it was enough to make Sagaku cry. Her tears had stopped as quickly as they came, though, and Kurama pushed her away.

"I'm sorry, Sagaku. I've got to be careful though." Kurama said ruefully.

"S'okay." Sagaku muttered, looking down.

* * *

**Buahahahaha...okay, so there's really nothing for me to laugh evilly about. But I am pretty happy that I have the 24th (that's right, two dozen!) chapter up. I really can't wait until I get to the last few, when stuff actually starts happening for real.**


	25. Not Made of Stone

**As I'm sure everyone realizes, it is pointless for me to continuously state I do not own YYH…and this saddens me, truly, but I'm willing to admit it :'(**

**Heads up, sex is implied in this chapter – no dirty details though, in order to keep it safe to read for young 'uns ;)**

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* * *

A Solution**

By the second day, Sagaku was getting grouchy. Kurama had come by to spend another ten minutes with her, but he had to leave early again. He said he couldn't be around her when she smelt like that because of his inner demon. Yusuke and Kuwabara had offered to hang out for a while, too, but they both had work they needed to do. Hiei stuck around the apartment for the most part, to keep an eye on her. She wondered if it was to make sure no demons got to her, or to make sure she didn't ruin any of his stuff. It wasn't like he had a lot of belongings to destroy. When he wasn't keeping an eye on her, though, he was going out and doing missions for Koenma. It wasn't fair.

"What about the Mirror of Kuragari?" Sagaku asked Hiei, after a long interview about the items he had stolen. She was sitting on the counter, as far away from him as she could get while still talking to him. He was on the window sill, behind the couch. It seemed to be a thing, for him.

"It broke when they tried to smuggle it out." Hiei answered. Most of the answers were only two, maybe three, words.

"That was unfortunate. I've never stolen anything. Is it hard?" Talking helped with the discomfort, a little bit. She still felt like she had frost bite on her fingers and toes, but if she was able to focus on something else, even for a little while, it was helpful.

"Hn." Hiei answered.

"It sounds kind of fun, to be honest. I mean, not the stealing part, but the stealthy part. I want to learn to be that stealthy. It's weird, now that I'm not part of a Warren, I feel like I can learn anything. Maybe Koenma can let me retrieve artifacts that have been stolen from the vaults." She yammered on a little, knowing Hiei wasn't going to say anything. It probably drove him insane, all her talking, but it was better than sitting there and shivering.

Hiei was actually listening to her, half amused and half annoyed. She had the weirdest thought process ever, and with the stones she wore, she only broadcasted one or two stray thoughts. It was weird to hear her voice them out loud.

"Maybe I can learn to use a whip like Kurama. That's got to be useful if you're trying to steal something because it's got a longer reach. Of course, I can control plants, so maybe that's not such a great idea." She was still talking, but her eyes were clenched shut and she was gritting her teeth in the pauses. Her body was begging her for warmth. Just a few more days, hopefully.

That night two demons came knocking. Sagaku tried to help Hiei fight them, but when one of them pinned her, her body shivered instead of kicking out. Hiei had to rip the demon off her, throwing him against the door. His entire body was bristling with the idea that demons would dare invade _his _territory. She was under his protection, and they had no right to touch her. The first demon died quickly, pierced by his newly-polished katana. The other demon was quick to dodge his slashing sword, and to parry with his own sharp weapon. But he was distracted by the onna who had stood up and backed away from the fight, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Hiei used the distraction to cut off the demon's head. Luckily tile cleaned easily enough.

Koenma sent an ogre to remove the demon bodies from Hiei's apartment after Hiei explained the situation to him. Sagaku stayed silent the entire time, her mind skittering through ideas. It kept sticking on one. There was one way to make this better. And shivering beneath demons that would rape her and then kill her once she had born young, or keep her simply for pleasure, was not that one way. The ogre finished removing the bodies through the portal, leaving a mostly spotless floor behind. Sagaku waited until the portal was entirely closed before she calmed her body enough to execute her plan.

"Hiei," she took a step backwards, towards the bedroom. Hiei turned to look at her, after he finished inspecting the tile for leftover bits of the demons.

"What, onna?" He asked. She looked up, straight into his eyes for the first time since she'd gotten to his apartment.

"I need your help." She told him. He narrowed his eyes. Obviously she needed his help. It's why she had been staying in his apartment. She took a few steps towards him. "It doesn't mean anything," she reassured him, "it's just until…until it goes away." Her intentions were becoming more clear.

"What makes you think I want to help you, onna?" Hiei smirked, standing his ground. She would chicken out, he had no doubt. But she took another step, now within reaching distance of him.

"Because you don't lose anything from helping me." She took in a deep breath. Her eyes didn't leave his face, but it was impassive. She couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Hn." He still didn't move. She crept forward the last step, and before Hiei could move out of reach, her push her out of reach, like he always did she made her move. She moved her lips to his, surprised at how they met together. She had never kissed anyone before. His lips didn't move against hers, but she didn't try to press herself closer. He didn't like her being that close. Anyways, enough heat was spreading through her body from just his lips that moving closer didn't matter.

Hiei pushed her, but he followed her, not detaching her lips from his. His lips began moving against hers. Sagaku's eyes were shut, because she hadn't wanted to see his rejection if he wouldn't help her, but they flew open when she hit a wall, hard, his arms on either side of her head as he leaned against the wall, caging her in.

"It doesn't mean anything." He growled at her, still smirking. Her confidence was growing, and she smirked back, her hand latching on the back of his head to pull him closer again. The cold feeling inside her had thawed the second he had started kissing back. Molten lava was pouring through her veins now.

"And we never have to talk about it once I leave." She agreed, pressing her lips to his again, glad that Sam and Ned had explained it all to her.

Somehow Sagaku managed to turn Hiei into the bedroom, and he managed to turn so he was between her and the door.

"The stones have to go." He sneered, but without his usual degrading look. Plus, his red eyes were alight with excitement. She wondered when he had started breathing through his nose again. He had the second she kissed him. It was hard, trying to figure out how to not accost her during her time in heat, and when she had advanced on him…he gave up trying. If she wanted it, and if she understood it was purely physical, than it was all good.

"The piercings stay." Sagaku countered, but she had already unlatched the necklaces, and the bracelets and rings were falling off her hands one at a time. She hiked up the skirt Yusuke had dropped off for her the day after she had started her cycle and pulled off the red garnets from her thigh. She lifted her leg to remove the anklets. Her eyes never left Hiei's as the stones all dropped to the floor where she stood.

"Hn." He agreed to leaving the piercings, and pushed her back against the bed post, his hand pressing lightly against her throat as he nipped at her lips again. Her fingers tugged at his cloak until it fell to the floor, somewhere over the stones. He pushed her back onto the black sheets, removing his shirt as she went down. He crawled over her, pushing his face into her neck and ripping the elastic out of her hair so it pillowed beneath her. Her scent was like ambrosia. His hands brushed over her body, lifting her shirt off her. She wore nothing beneath it, but she didn't even seem ashamed. How could she, with so much fire running through her?

* * *

Sagaku was awake, pressed tightly against the fire demon. He was sleeping soundly, one hand sprawled over her shoulder. Last night had been…unexpected. She hadn't expected him to accept her invitation. If she hadn't been so desperate to make the cold go away, she would never have even attempted it. Hiei had…helped her…until they were both tired out. She didn't even know who had fallen asleep first.

There were a few small bruises from his fingers and mouth on her body, although he had been careful about not biting her. She understood, from Sam and Ned, that most demons marked their mates by biting them. She hadn't used her teeth, either. There were, however, red welts on his back and arms from her fingernails. Her thighs were sore, too – he hadn't gone easy on her. She didn't mind. The cold was sinking slowly back into her system, but it was so faint it was only as bothersome as one flea might be. It had worked, then.

Sagaku slithered from the bed and Hiei, gathering her clothes and rushing quietly to go take a shower. She didn't want to wake Hiei up, and she didn't want to be there when he woke up. She wasn't sure how he would react to the entire situation.

Hiei woke up to the sound of water running. He kept his eyes closed, and breathed in deeply through his nose. The night before hadn't been a dream, according to the scents in his room. He sat up, collecting his clothes from the floor, and stepping over the pile of jewelry the onna had left beneath his cloak. The second she stepped out of the bathroom, he dodged in. He hoped she remembered it had been purely physical. They hadn't even called each other's names during their…moments. It had been very, very impersonal in the most personal sense there was.

By the time Hiei got out of the shower, Sagaku had cleaned up the bedroom and was in the kitchen cooking something to eat. She wordlessly handed Hiei a plate of rice and chicken before making a plate for herself. They were saved from any more morning-after awkwardness by a knock on the door. Hiei stood and opened it a crack like always. Seeing it was Kurama, he opened the door to allow the fox to come in.

"Good morning, Hiei, Sagaku." He smiled at them both, being careful not to breathe through his nose. Hiei realized he had reverted to breathing through his mouth as soon as he got out of the shower, too. It would do no good to be taking in the intoxicating scent all day.

"Morning, Kurama." Sagaku gave him a brief hug, but stepped away to fill a plat with rice and chicken for him too.

"Thank you," he murmured to her, and then ate silently with them.

Kurama stayed longer this time, not as bothered by the scent as he had been before. When it was time for him to leave for his afternoon classes, he hugged Sagaku again, and smiled at the fire demon.

* * *

**So does awkwardness commence? I'm posting the next chapter in a second or two, so you don't really have to wait to find out =P**


	26. A Proposal

**Told you it would only be a few seconds =P And in these few seconds, nothing has changed, I still don't own YYH ^.^**

**Also, since I foolishly forgot to say it in the last chapter: Thank you guys who have reviewed! It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Seriously, even my cat might be getting envious.**

**Warning again, there is still implied sex in this chapter. Nothing worth averting your eyes, but enough for a warning, in my opinion.**

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Jealousy Turned the Demon Green**

Now that the ice had been broken, Sagaku was able to act like herself again, although she felt a little weird about it. She hadn't known what it was going to be like, the night before. She liked it, in a way. In a really big way. And he had taken care to...keep her protected from the fate of all breeders. Probably because he didn't want a kid, but still, it was a consideration. She began yammering away to Hiei again, this time about how her sisters might be doing.

"I'm sure Papa already found a suitor for Usagi, and probably Mazui as well. I wonder if Onpu is doing okay? And the twins…they were growing so fast, even before I left. Do you think they're still in the same Warren? I'm sure Papa must have found somewhere new, if he wanted to keep them safe. He probably had to join one of the three fiefdoms." She talked and talked, ignoring the creeping sensation as her body cooled off throughout the day. Apparently last night had only been a quick fix.

* * *

There was another demon in the late afternoon, one that appeared while Hiei was away on a mission. Sagaku dodged out of its reach, wondering if she should try killing it or if it would be smarter to barricade herself in the room. Steam was billowing off the blue-haired, fish-like demon. He looked confused, staring at her and cocking his head from side to side. His eyes were the same eerie color as his hair.

"Is it you?" He asked, kind of dancing forward. His nails weren't long, but they were pointed. Realizing she still wasn't wearing any of her stones, Sagaku danced back.

"No, of course it isn't me." Sagaku said facetiously. The demon glared at her, and then shot a stream of water at her. She rolled under it, landing at the demons feet and executing her favorite kick upwards. He stumbled off his feet, landing hard on his back, but he shot another stream of water towards her, forcing her to dodge to the side.

"Don't think I can be made a fool of." He said, though his voice seemed to lack any real venom. Sagaku moved forward again, angling her fist at his chest. It hit his shoulder, even as he tried to block it. She swung her other fist up, catching him in the chin. He gave out an angry cry, no longer sounding like a lost, harmless little demon…now the stream of water he shot at her was boiling and sizzling, burning her skin as it splattered past her.

"I don't think you need to be made a fool." Sagaku said snidely, ignoring the burns. The contrast against her cold skin made it that much more uncomfortable. This time when she danced in, he tried to block punches, so she twisted and kicked, and then scratched him down his face. He spat water at her this time. It hit Hiei's katana, hissing and splashing to the tile floor.

"Go to the room." Hiei ordered Sagaku. She saluted the water demon, giving him a prissy wave with her fingertips, before following Hiei's orders. Within a minute he was ordering Koenma to send clean-up. She could hear Koenma's exasperated voice.

"Another demon? They're still cleaning up the last site!"

"Is Sagaku hurt?" She heard Botan call from the communicator. Hiei 'hn'ed as usual, and discontinued the connection. Sagaku opened the bedroom door, and stared down at the half-decapitated, blue-haired fish boy.

"He's dead." She announced to Hiei, who rolled his eyes.

"How long was he here for before I got back?" Hiei asked, trying to hide the fact that he his eyes were roving her body, checking for injury. He was surprisingly jealous that some demon had tried to touch what he had staked as his property, figuratively. Luckily he had gotten back in time.

"Five minutes, ten tops." Sagaku answered, hopping up onto the counter. Hiei's normal sitting places were sopping wet. The ogre took a few minutes cleaning up the other site before a portal finally opened in Hiei's living room, admitting the cleaning ogre who disposed of the body and mopped up most of the water. The couch was still wet.

Sagaku started cooking again, leaving Hiei to his own devices as she poked through the minimal amount of pots he had. She made soup, keeping her cold hands near the stove top as she cooked. By the time she served the soup to Hiei, and sat down with her own bowl, her legs were tingling with the cold again. She ate in silence and began cleaning up the plates. Hiei went to sit on the window sill, watching the onna from the corner of his eyes. Without the stones protecting her thoughts, she was broadcasting again. She was wondering if he would do it again, or if she should just put it out of her mind…

When she started shivering again, Hiei stepped up behind her and turned off the water she was using to clean the dishes. He turned her around, already feeling himself stir. From the way she threw herself at him, she was more than ready for it too.

By the end of the week, Sagaku felt the cold slowly seeping away. Her cycle was finally ending. She was able to go back to her own apartment the next day, happy to be able to hug her friends again. She kept thinking about Hiei during the night, but they ignored each other as always during missions, Hiei staying just long enough after he killed his demons to make sure she killed hers too, and then disappearing as he always did. A month passed and he didn't so much as brush by her.

* * *

It was Keiko's birthday, and everyone was getting together to throw her a surprise party. Yusuke had taken her out, to keep her away from the apartment as Kuwabara and Kurama helped Sagaku hang up streamers. Yukina was baking a cake in the kitchen, and Hiei was with her, putting confetti out without much enthusiasm. He hadn't slept well since the onna left. Even though he had washed the sheets and the pillows since she left, her stupid scent had stained them in a sense. He hated being around her.

When everything was ready, Kuwabara sent Yusuke a text. Everyone piled their gifts on the small coffee table in the front room. When Yusuke and Keiko entered, Botan and Koenma following behind them (they had been guard duty to make sure Keiko didn't enter the apartment before they were ready) Kuwabara threw balloons up into the air. Keiko shrieked in pleasant surprise, and circled the room to give everyone a hug.

Keiko was opening her presents after the cake, trying not to get the sticking frosting all over the place. It was too late for that – they had already thrown it all over the place. Not one person was clean, even the fast fire demon. Kurama had nailed him on accident. The first box was from Botan, in pretty, sparkly pink wrapping paper. It was a beautiful shirt from one of the upper-end stores, with matching silver sandals. Yukina and Kuwabara had bought her a joint gift. When Keiko unwrapped the oddly shaped package, the cloth cover fell to reveal a crystal figurine of her favorite fairy-tale character. Luckily Sagaku had bought all of her friends gifts in America, because she never had time to go shopping while she was here. She had gotten Keiko hand-blown glass earrings, shaped delicately into flowers. Kurama had gotten her a set of books she had been dying for.

When Keiko reached for the last box left, Yusuke knelt on the floor in front of her, taking the box from her hands to open it for her. She started crying, shaking her head yes before he could even ask the question.

Sagaku sighed happily, realizing what Yusuke had been going to shops for a few weeks ago. And she and Keiko had thought it was so weird. Kurama smiled at his friends, and let Sagaku climb onto his lap like she had the tendency to do. Kuwabara was sniffling, though it was impossible to know if he was crying because he had turned away. Hiei wasn't paying attention to the proposal though. His eyes had narrowed on the fox, with his arms around the onna. He could feel the jealousy roiling up in him. For a second, he hated himself for the feelings – he was the one who said there would be no emotions. But he wasn't jealous because he thought Kurama liked the girl, he was jealous because Kurama was touching her, no matter how casual it was.

Sagaku watched as Yusuke slipped the crystal ring onto Keiko's finger and snuggled closer to Kurama. The 'in heat' scent was totally gone and she was allowed to curl up with the guys again. Not that she'd missed it, what with everything else that happened when she was at Hiei's apartment.

The demon in question was beginning to growl quietly in his throat, glaring at the unaware fox. Sagaku glanced at him curiously, but was distracted by something Kurama murmured into her ear. She turned to him, laughing.

"You think they'll get married that soon?" She asked him. "I bet you it's not for at least five months."

"I'll take that bet!" Kuwabara jumped in. Kurama leaned back and laughed at the expression on Keiko's face. Botan was fawning over the ring, and Koenma was congratulating the Spirit Detective.

Sagaku stood up with all intentions of getting a drink of water, but when she stood up she was jerked into the unlit hallway. Hiei dragged her to her bedroom, opening the door and closing it quietly behind him. Sagaku stood, puzzled, waiting for Hiei to tell her whatever it was that he had to say. He didn't say anything, she pulled her to him and started kissing her. The fire that had kept her warm during her cycle flared up again, burning low on her belly. He pushed her against a wall, muffling her moans with his mouth as he clumsily lifted her skirt.

Kurama looked around curiously, wondering where Sagaku had disappeared to. It was then that he noticed Hiei missing, too. He kept his mouth shut, and continued to tease his newly-engaged friends. He hoped they weren't doing something that would end with Sagaku being hurt.

Sagaku was back out in time to say good-bye to her friends. Hiei wasn't with her, which threw Kurama off, but when he gave her a hug like he always did he noticed a smokey scent mixed in with her normal smell. He gave her a knowing look, causing her to blush, but he still didn't say anything. He would have to talk to Hiei about this, not her.

Hiei was still in the room when Sagaku got back. She froze, wondering what he wanted this time. Not that she would complain about the sex, but she really wanted to know what was going on.

"What are you after, Hiei?" She finally asked him, mindful of keeping her voice soft so she wouldn't alert Yusuke and Keiko to his presence.

"I don't like seeing you all over the fox." The fire apparition finally said, making no move to come closer to her. Sagaku frowned, staring at him with her large, dark brown eyes.

"Hiei, you said this didn't mean anything." She reminded him. He growled in frustration.

"It doesn't. I just…" There were no words for him to explain that he thought of her as his territory. No words she would like hearing, anyways.

"You won't let me hold you, and you won't hold me. Do you understand how I feel without contact? I need it. I don't care that you won't give it to me, but don't expect me not to accept it from anyone else." Sagaku began getting angry. He had no right to think she would just wait for him all the time. Heck, he was the one who had insinuated it would all end as soon as her cycle was over.

Hiei stood quietly, absorbing what she said. The onna was right; he had no right to expect anything of her. He disappeared out the window before she could say anything else.

Sagaku went to sleep crying. Maybe she had hoped that even though it was all without-strings something would come of it. Maybe she still believed in stupid things and needed to grow up. She wrapped her Serpentine jewelry back on. She would need to remember to figure out how to cleanse it before the year was out.


	27. Told Off

**I hope you dear partakers of this story enjoy…coming up soon: a disclaimer stating I do not own YYH! Stay tuned ;)**

**Disclaimer: I hereby state that I, FavoriteCharacter, do not own YYH. (Yeah, that totally just happened.)  
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Deciphering Demon Actions**

Instead of speeding off right away, Hiei sat on the roof of the building across from Sagaku's room. She had her back turned from the window, but he could see her shoulders shaking as she cried. He watched as she undressed and pulled on the ridiculous nightgown with long sleeves. She hadn't worn the stupid thing when they slept together. When he finally returned to his apartment, he was only mildly surprised to see the kitsune waiting for him.

"What are you doing with her, Hiei?" Kurama demanded to know, emerald sparks in her eyes.

"Hn. She asked me to." Hiei was not in the mood to deal with the accusations to come. He had already had it thrown into his face that night, he didn't need it again.

"And you did it? She's only eighteen! And hardly eighteen, at that. So you're going to hurt her for what?" Kurama growled, his eyes sharpening and beginning to turn gold. He towered over Hiei more, despite the fact that he had already been towering.

"I don't know." Hiei snapped at the fox. "If I thought it was going to turn out like this I never would have done anything. I would have let her suffer."

"You should have! It would have lasted a little more than a week, and she would have gotten out of it," Kurama snarled, "Now she's going to suffer longer, this time of heartbreak."

"It wasn't emotional!" Hiei yelled at the redhead whose hair was beginning to get a grey tinge.

"Liar!" Kurama snarled, transforming quicker.

"I'll fix it," Hiei told the fox, hoping Kurama would be able to hold back his second half. "I just need to think about it. I won't even go near the onna until I've figured it out."

Kurama's hair stopped lengthening and straightening, slowly turning bright red again. He brushed past the fire demon, stalking out of the apartment. Hiei was left with a dull, burning anger. It wasn't supposed to happen this way at all.

Koenma had a mission for Hiei and Sagaku the next morning. This time he sent them off with heavy warnings – it was only two demons, but they were strong. Strong, and in the Makai, where other demons could easily join in the fray. The portal was at the park, waiting for them.

"Morning." Sagaku said to Hiei when she arrived, and then she stepped through the portal without looking him in the eye or waiting for him to greet her. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about this.

Stepping through the portal, Hiei almost fell directly into Sagaku who hadn't moved. She was busy staring at the two demons wreaking havoc. One was red – his skin, his hair, his giant, cavernous mouth. And he was spewing lava from said cavernous mouth, his fingers burning gold and melting anything they came in contact with. The other one was tall, easily as tall as Youko, with golden-blonde hair tied back into a pony-tail. He had dark blue eyes, and other than his height, he looked extraordinarily familiar. Sagaku had narrowed her eyes at him, watching the way he used drums slung around his neck to destroy. Her father used noise like that.

"I've got the golden boy." She staked her claim, and then sped down the hill she stood on, rushing to meet her brother in battle. Her brothers had all left the Warren when she was a baby. Her mother hadn't birthed any more after Mazui was born.

Hiei sped down as well, knowing he had to engage the molten demon before the two demons ganged up on the stupid onna. He got there in time, distracting the red-hot demon from his friend's surprised yelp. Sagaku was focusing on two of the clear stones on her ankle, and the red garnets on her thigh that gave her power. Her brother was looking at her, puzzled, clearly wondering who she was.

The drums around his neck tapped lightly against each other, an invisible wave sending Sagaku reeling back. She didn't bother trying to keep her balance, just rolled when she hit the ground focused harder on the stones. When her brother got close enough to look at her face, he lifted her up by her throat.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" He asked her as he squeezed his fingers. The Serpentine choker shot hard beams into his fingers, causing him to curse. Her foot slamming against his thigh with all the power in her body, the two clear stones, and the garnets, caused him to let go of her. The bone was shattered.

"So you're a rebel. Why?" Sagaku asked him, rubbing one of the blue stones on her fingers. The brown stone on the ring next to it began to heat up at the same time. The Azurite kicked in first, lending her speed as she dodged the next wave of sound sent to her by the rolling taps on the drums. It was the Mahogany Obsidian that sent her brother reeling before he could roll another line on the drums. She dodged close enough to punch him, the many rings on her fingers hitting his jaw with bruising force. He flipped her over his back, knocking the wind from her. He put his dirty leather boot on her stomach, wincing as more blood poured from his thigh.

"Because allowing a human to rule any part of the demon world is absurdity," he snarled, "and allowing a toddler to decree order is even worse. Now you answer my question. Who are you?"

"You won't know me by name," Sagaku gasped, and then closed her eyes. The Tiger-Eye on her neck began to pulse harder. When she opened her eyes they were sharper, tinged olive. She slashed at his thigh with her fingers, pressing into the broken bone. "But maybe you'll remember our mother's name."

"Our mother's?" He cried in pain as she dug her fingers in further, and fell to the floor beside her. "Father would never let you fight." He snarled. "You're not my sister." A dagger appeared in his hand, and he thrust it down at her chest. The Hematite beads strung about her neck forced it away, the magnetic pulse pushing the metal blade farther away with each pulse. She grabbed the black onyx with her fist, breaking the chain it was on as she punched him with it.

"Of course not. No brother of mine would be a traitor." The Moonstone on her finger burned white, and began sucking the life force out of the golden-haired rebel. He choked and grasped at his throat. His last move was to tap the drum in one last cadence, one which hit Sagaku in the chest. She couldn't breathe, couldn't feel her heart beat…the Fire Agate on her wrist band began forcing red streams of light into her pulse. She could feel it. Her chest hurt, badly, but she would survive.

Stumbling upright, she went to see how Hiei was doing. The molten demon wasn't doing well, but Hiei couldn't get close enough to finish him off. His own thigh was burned, a large gash showing through the ragged hole in his cloak and pants. He was unwrapping the bandages around his arm, muttering something under his breath.

Sagaku witnessed the large black dragon coming out of Hiei's hand, watched it dive back into the fire demon. And then she watched him unleash his fury on the molten demon, moving too quickly and fiercely for the demon to react. The red mass began to fall, until finally only Hiei stood. He was panting viciously, and trying to rewrap his arm. He hadn't quite finished when he finally collapsed.

It was awkward, trying to report to Koenma and rewrap Hiei's burnt arm at the same time, but Sagaku managed. She couldn't even summon up an ounce of surprise when Koenma said no clean-up crew was necessary. At least not in the Makai. Sagaku struggled, ignoring her own pain as she carried the slightly taller fire demon up the hill, crouched over and awkward.

Yusuke was waiting on the other side of the portal, having been alerted by Koenma that they may need help. He hurried to Sagaku and took Hiei from her, relieving some of the pressure on her chest. They rushed out of the park, hoping to avoid any notice.

Kurama met them at Hiei's apartment, helping Yusuke get the youkai up the steps. He began examining Hiei's wounds immediately, treating his leg injury first and then checking his arm.

"He'll be okay." Kurama said, after he finished bandaging the fire demon's thigh. He turned to Yusuke and Sagaku, both who were trying not to hover. "Let's get you home. I'll check any injuries you have at the apartment." Kurama said, and down the stairs they went again.

Kurama couldn't do anything about her chest pains, but said that none of ribs were broken, although one might have been cracked. He left her some herbs to make tea, saying it would help ease the pain, but he could do nothing past that. Sagaku thanked her oddly-distant friend, and chased Yusuke from her room to go check on his soon-to-be wife. Glad to be alone, she sank onto her bed, trying not to breathe in too deeply. She got up again, and stripped, stepping into her bathroom. She turned the cold water on, stepping beneath the running frigidness. It stung her throat and her ribs, but she could feel the dirt and smoke residue running off her face and out of her hair. Finally, too tired to stand, she fell to her knees and leaned back in the tub without even having the energy to turn off the cold water.

* * *

Hiei woke up in his own room, his heart racing. The ripped cloak was lying on the bed beside him, but he still wore the ripped pants. His arm throbbed, but it was bound properly. With a pang of anxiety he experienced only rarely, in relation to the fox, the baka, and the Spirit Detective, he wondered how the onna was doing. Apparently she had survived, if he was back here at his apartment.

Moving carefully to avoid injuring his leg further, Hiei left to go see how she was doing. He pried open the window to her room, slipping in quietly. She wasn't in her room, but her bathroom light was on and the shower was running. Frowning, he realized he couldn't hear her moving about. He opened the door carefully. The glass door to the shower was closed, but he could see the shadow form of her crumpled on the floor. He flung the glass door open, turning off the icy cold water that pelted down on him. He picked up her naked form, wincing at the pain in his leg, and carried her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. Placing Sagaku down gently on her bed, Hiei turned back and locked her door, turning out the bathroom light and the bedroom light. He peeled the comforter back, burying the girl under the thick blanket. He watched her shiver as he peeled off his boots.

Hiei climbed under the blanket, pulling the still-dripping girl to him. She moaned in her sleep, pressing icy cold lips to his filthy shirt. A frown tugged on the demon's lip as he tucked his arm around her and closed his own eyes, allowing himself to sleep as well. He had promised the fox he would fix it, and he would. It would just take a while.


	28. A Death Across the Sea

**YYH is still not mine (big surprise) but the Warren characters are. And stuff is finally gonna hit the fan, soon =P Enjoy the extra-long, extra-sad chapter!**

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Bearer of Bad News**

Yusuke was pounding on the door, insisting that Sagaku wake up. The demon girl was still sound asleep, her forehead crinkled with worry, but the knocking woke Hiei up. He wondered if he should open up the door, but decided against it, wondering what Yusuke could possibly want with the onna so early in the morning.

"Come on, Sagaku!" Yusuke was pleading as he hit the door a few more times. "Koenma says it's an emergency. He wants everyone, and that means you too, to hurry!" Sagaku groaned and rolled over on her small bed, almost knocking Hiei off. He opened the window and slipped out – he wasn't hiding from the onna, he told himself, just going to get changed so he could meet with the rest of the group.

Sagaku finally woke up, wondering when she had crawled out of the shower. Yusuke had just finished shouting an insult at her.

"Can it, grease ball! I'll be out in a minute!" She shouted at her unnaturally grumpy friend. She hunted up her jewelry, scattered across the room and bathroom, and began clipping on the many stones. She only had one chopstick left, but it might be important so she twisted her hair into a messy mass at the back of her head and thrust the pin through it, before rummaging through her dresser. Luckily there was still a little bit of clean clothes – she pulled a teal tank top over her head, and reached for a pair of underwear and one of her skirts. It took her about two minutes to find her sandals, but when she stumbled out into the hallway, Yusuke was still getting ready.

"Be careful, Sagaku." Keiko whispered to her friend, her voice clouded with stress. They hugged each other, although it wasn't a big hug because Keiko was very mindful of her ribs. "And watch out for Yusuke."

"I will." Sagaku winced as something in her chest compressed. If she could remember where the tea ended up last night, she would take it with her…

"Keiko, babe, you know I'll be okay." Yusuke kissed his fiancée on the lips, hugging her briefly, and then grabbed Sagaku and started dragging her out the door. "We're going to be late!" He hissed, and then called back, "I love you, Keiko! Go to Shizuru if you have any problems! And keep an eye on Yukina for Kuwabara, if you can!"

"So what's the big deal?" Sagaku asked Yusuke as they dodged around people, headed for the remote corners of the park. Her chest was throbbing again as she ran. This was going to be a problem…

"Dunno yet." Yusuke said as they dodged yet another person. "All I know is that the last time all of us got called together we got stuck with an annoying girl. Hope that doesn't happen again."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Didn't she end up beating you up?"

"Wha – no!" Yusuke said, startled.

"Huh, you're right. Just wait for it." Sagaku teased him. If her chest would stop throbbing she would even be willing to laugh with him.

They arrived at the park at the same time as Kuwabara, although Kurama and Hiei were already there. Botan was there too in all of her pink and blue glory. She didn't look as happy as usual as she floated on her oar, and when they all focused on her she gave them a sad look.

"Two demons were killed last night," Botan began. Yusuke cut her off.

"Well isn't that a good thing?" He asked tactlessly. Botan glanced sadly at Sagaku, and she felt her heart sink in her chest. As if it didn't hurt enough already, now it felt like it was getting ready to rip in two. She didn't like that pitying look.

"They were scholars, both of them. They lived in America." The others were all looking at Sagaku now, too. She was turning white, her breath coming in quick pants. This couldn't be happening, it wasn't right. Someone else had died, there had been a mistake… "Their names were Shoseki and Nenriki. Their house was burnt, but Koenma suspects all of their books were stolen first. At least the valuable ones were stolen, anyways. There was a message left there, on the walls…in blood, supposedly…" Botan stopped talking and burst into tears, looking sadly at Sagaku. Sagaku was staring wide-eyed, trying to pretend this wasn't happening and she was just hearing everything wrong.

"Sagaku…are they…were they…" Kurama tried to ask Sagaku without touching on the subject, which was of course impossible.

"Sam and Ned," Sagaku whispered, falling to her knees. Sam and Ned couldn't die. They knew too much, they were too kind and too funny… "Sam and Ned…" she whispered again. It couldn't be true. They were so stable, they had been together for seven hundred years. They couldn't die.

"Sagaku, it gets worse." Botan said miserably. The boys all looked to her. "Whoever it was knows they trained a Hanshoku. He or she saw Sagaku there and now whoever it was wants to find her. The note said that you won't be alone for long, Sagaku."

"Why are we here, then? What's the deal, bringing us out into the open, Botan?" Yusuke asked the ferry girl angrily. He gestured at Sagaku. "If she's a target why do you want her out in the middle of a public place?"

"We think it's possible that the person might know where she lives." Botan dried her tears, straightening up on her oar. "I'm just here to give you Koenma's orders. Sagaku, he wants you to keep training and practicing whatever Shoseki and Nenriki taught you. If you're being targeted, that must mean there's something more to it that we haven't realized yet. Hiei, you're to keep her at your apartment again. Of the boys you're the least ostentatious. You are to guard her when you are there, but Koenma will be sending you on your normal missions still. Kurama, when Hiei has to leave, you are to take his place. It might even be wise for you to sleep there until the issue is resolved. Kuwabara, Koenma doesn't think Yukina will be a target, but he wants you to move her to Genkai's and protect her there. Yusuke, you and Keiko are to leave the apartment. You can go to Kuwabara's and stay there while he's gone, or you can go to Genkai's as well. You are not to return to the apartment under any circumstances until this is over. These are his orders until further notice."

"We need to get everything set up right away." Kurama decided, lifting Sagaku to her feet. "Botan, let Koenma know we got the orders. We'll start taking precautions right away."

"Onna, you always need to be protected." Hiei growled. He didn't say it like it was necessarily a bad thing, though. She was still in shock and didn't react to what he was saying. Kurama swung her up into his arms, carrying her as he strode away. The others were quick to follow.

"Yusuke, can you get anything of hers from the apartment when you get Keiko? Kuwabara, you should go straight to Yukina now." Kurama started giving orders, taking charge of the group. They had to keep everyone safe.

"Yeah, I can't leave her alone now…" Kuwabara muttered, worry so apparent in his voice that it gave even Yusuke a surprise. Kuwabara took off running, in a hurry to get back to his beloved wife.

"I'll meet you guys at Hiei's apartment." Yusuke shot off after Kuwabara, hoping to catch a ride to his own apartment to gather up Keiko and a few belongings.

Sagaku would have told Kurama that she could walk and didn't need to be carried, but she did need to be comforted and she felt like if she let go of the redhead she would just float of the earth. Sam and Ned…they just couldn't be gone. They still emailed each other, and called each other. They were such a big part of her heart, like brothers that actually cared about her. And they understood her, more than anyone else ever could – more than her sisters ever could. She needed them.

"Hiei," Kurama said when they were in front of his apartment, "I need to go get some things from my apartment and make my excuses to my mom. I'll bring back some extra blankets and pillows. Can you take care of her until then?"

"Hn." Hiei responded, and then surprised the fox by holding out his arms to take the baka onna. Kurama passed the shivering girl over, and Hiei turned to bring her back into the rooms she had just left a little over a month ago. She clutched him tightly, her fingers relaxing and digging into his shoulders harder with each shuddering breath. She cried against him, leaving wet marks all over his shirt and not caring. When he sat down, trying to deposit her on the couch next to him, she moved closer to him, pressing against him so hard he thought she was trying to mold into him. He didn't know what to do.

With a tentative thought in his head, Hiei slipped easily into her mind, trying to pinpoint her pain. He was shocked to find out she had come to care about the two men in the eight months she had been with them. He was not as shocked to find out that she wanted his arms around her. She didn't care who held her, as long as someone was there, draining the pain out of her. And he found out that her rib that might be cracked felt like it was piercing into her heart, although maybe that was just the pain of losing someone. The only person she had ever lost was her mother, but they had never been close. There were too many daughters to get close to any of them.

He couldn't bring himself to put his arms around her. Her pain was practically palpable, but he didn't want to touch her anymore than he had to. The night Kurama had confronted him was still fresh in his mind and he still didn't know what he wanted with the rabbit demon.

When Kurama arrived back at the apartment, he let himself in and stopped in the middle of his tracks at the sight of Hiei sitting awkwardly on the couch, pinned beneath the crying girl. With a glare aimed at the fire demon for not properly comforting the girl, Kurama dropped his stuff and plucked the girl from Hiei's lap. She latched back onto Kurama and he put his arms around her, holding him close. Hiei glared this time.

"Shh, it's okay Sagaku. It's okay." Kurama crooned to the girl. She was slowly drying out, the tears not coming, only heaving breaths.

"How could they die?" She whispered to him. Hiei bit back his remark about everyone dying, knowing it wouldn't help matters and the fox would only glare at him some more. He just wished the fox would let go of her.

"I know it doesn't seem fair," Kurama began but Sagaku interrupted his comforting words.

"You don't get it, I trained with them…the two of them fighting together was beyond words. They were scholars, and they knew techniques that would make your head spin. How could someone break through their defenses? I don't get it…" Sagaku pulled away from the taller boy and began pacing, ignoring her ragged breathing. She ignored both boys as well, running through her thoughts over and over again. No one would be able to kill them. They protected each other too strongly. And yet they were both dead.

"Sagaku, you're going to hurt yourself. Your breathing doesn't sound right." Kurama told the girl gently after she had paced around the room a few times. She whirled around, facing him angrily.

Hiei appeared behind her, hitting a pressure point in her neck before she could say something she would regret later.

"I'm putting her to bed." Hiei said calmly, as if he had not just knocked a girl unconscious. Kurama followed Hiei into the room and pulled back the blanket. Hiei dropped the girl unceremoniously on the bed, wishing Kurama wasn't watching his every movement. Kurama covered her up, tucking the comforter in around her. Hiei was hoping her scent wouldn't leave his bed this time. The sweet scent had been a comforting addition to his room for about two weeks after she'd left the last time.

Yusuke was at the door when they walked back out to the living room. He had Keiko with him, and he thrust a bag full of Sagaku's belongings at them.

"Keep in contact. We're going to be at Genkai's too." Yusuke said brusquely, tucking Keiko into his side protectively. She looked scared, but she was obviously trying to stay calm and rational about the entire thing. He led her away, meeting back up with Kuwabara and Yukina downstairs. They were going together to keep the girls safe.

Sagaku didn't stay unconscious for long, but she lay in bed. Nothing could make her face Kurama and Hiei right now. She had broken down in front of them which was not only improper, but embarrassing too. Able to think a little clearer now that she had let her emotions loose, Sagaku began to wonder exactly which technique Ned and Sam might have taught would make her a tactic. They had taught her a lot, not only with the stones but with weapons and hand-to-hand combat as well. Plus, there had been a lot of books they had made her read, sure that it would pay off in the end…maybe it would. Or maybe it was why they'd died.

She wouldn't forget anything they told her. And they had told her a lot. One thing was for her not to pull back from others – that's what had really killed Ned's mother. She fell in love with her suitor, but when he pulled back from her she gave up all contact and slowly lost her will to live. The Hanshoku had to be near someone else physically. It's what fueled their life force. Sagaku wouldn't make the same mistake as his mother, even if she had lost two people who meant something to her, not just one. She waited a while longer, and then crept out of Hiei's room. The two demons were quietly discussing something, and both of them seemed angry. Anger meant heat.

Without worrying about what she was interrupting, Sagaku pushed between the two demons, pressing her quivering form to both of them.

"I don't want to be alone." She said. It didn't come out as strong as she wanted it too, but at least it wasn't a whimper.

"Sagaku," Kurama sighed, "we can't sleep with you."

"Then I won't sleep." Sagaku said stubbornly. The very tip of her nose twitched but other than that she stood very still. She breathed in the comfortable, familiar scent of her two friends (although that was a stretch for Hiei) and closed her eyes, not moving.

"Good going, fox." Hiei snapped.

"Shut up, Hiei." Kurama snapped back. They both glared at each other. Sagaku ignored their argument, rubbing her head against Kurama's chest. He smelled like rose and fur.

"Sagaku, you need to sleep. Please, you're not healed yet. You've slept alone for a really long time now, since your sisters left." Kurama tried to reason with her.

"Actually, Ned and Sam let me sleep with them." Sagaku opened her eyes, meeting Hiei's brilliant red ones. "And even when I was alone, I wasn't falling apart. I am now."

"I know how Hiei was using you, Sagaku, and you know I can't sleep in bed with you! I can't allow you to get hurt, not while I'm here." Kurama cried, distressed and losing his cool.

"I was actually using him." Sagaku pointed out, with all the reason of a seven-year-old.

Kurama turned to the couch, frustrated beyond belief, and settled down to his blankets on the floor. His look alone told Hiei that he was not, under any circumstances, allowed to go into the room once Sagaku was settled in to sleep. If it took more force to get her back into bed, then so be it.


	29. Containment

**I really appreciate the reviews, so thank you to the people who have left them for me read =P And here's some interesting news, if you like this story: I think I'm going to write a Kurama one, and kind of make it an add-on to this one. That way I can keep writing a little bit about Sagaku and Hiei, but I can also do a bit on my favorite redhead.**

**So, as per the norm, I do not own YYH, I simply partake in its grandness. Enjoy!**

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* * *

A Step Forward**

Kurama turned to the couch, frustrated beyond belief, and settled down to his blankets on the floor. His look alone told Hiei that he was not, under any circumstances, allowed to go into the room once Sagaku was settled in to sleep. If it took more force to get her back into bed, then so be it.

Sagaku rolled around in Hiei's bed, feeling foolish. She just liked the scent and the feel of the sheets. After an hour of pretending to be asleep, Sagaku peered around Hiei's door cautiously. Both demons were asleep on the floor, the couch pressed up against the far wall. They both had separate blankets and pillows, so Sagaku dragged Hiei's off his bed, and then snuck quietly between the two. She was not going to waste away until she could avenge her American friends.

Kurama woke up to go to the bathroom, and after his initial shock of Sagaku being on the floor with them, he let it go. Better for her to sleep and heal, and plus, it wasn't entirely inappropriate if she was with both of them.

Sagaku began training as soon as she woke up, a bowl of water in front of her and all of her stones flat against her skin. She closed her eyes and started with meditation, letting her mind and senses find each and every stone. They were all connected to her, pulsing with each beat of her heart. She went over each stone's power, using the water in front of her to purify them after the training. She hadn't purified them in a long time, and it was important if she didn't want to be tainted. It might even help to cleanse the Serpentine, though she wasn't so sure about that.

Although Kurama still tried to make her sleep in a separate room, the days were going by smoothly. Sagaku couldn't help but wonder if Koenma had overreacted. After all, if nothing bad had happened yet maybe that meant the attacker didn't really know who or where she was.

She called Yusuke and Kuwabara daily, talking to each of them briefly before checking up on the girls. Sometimes Hiei got called away on missions, but the longest one only kept him away for two days. Those two days Kurama had firmly put his foot down about her sleeping in the same room as him, telling her it was against his morals. She spent the days sticking to him as tightly as she could, determined to make up for nights alone.

Hiei came back with a heavy scratch on his arm, but he explained he hadn't spent the whole time fighting one demon. Another one had popped up nearby, and Koenma had sent him after that one too. It was like everyone was on hyper-aware, watching every blade of grass that dared to so much as twitch in the breeze.

* * *

"Do you know what the attacker wants?" Kurama asked her one night as she hid under a blanket, pretending she had been dreaming the entire last week.

"Something to do with the stones. I feel like it's right there, I just can't reach it yet." Sagaku answered. So much for pretending the real world was really all fake. Maybe she could pretend she wasn't yearning for Hiei's touch, then.

Hiei, catching that last thought, looked at her thoughtfully. Having her in his home was making it hard for him to decide what he wanted to do about his possessive feelings of her. It was all physical attraction, he was sure, but Kurama had been right. It couldn't go on. No matter how careful he was, sooner or later she would get pregnant, and that was not something he was willing to deal with. So physical attraction or not, he was going to have to stop letting go of his restraint. It didn't help that she didn't want him to stop. She didn't say anything, and they hadn't done anything since the night of Keiko's birthday, but sometimes he would catch her staring at him with a hungry look in her eyes. To be fair, a lot of his time was spent thinking about her.

"I can't help but wonder if it was all a theory, and maybe there really wasn't something they knew." Kurama sighed, his thoughts heavy.

"No. I keep wanting all of this to be an illusion, to go away, but…some things are real no matter how much they shouldn't be. Sam and Ned didn't die for something that didn't exist." Sagaku said it with finality. She brushed her fingers over the many jewels on her neck, and then paused with a frown twisting her pretty, pale lips down.

"Kurama," she said hesitantly, her finger brushing the silver chains that held up the amethysts on her belt, "aren't metals stone too?"

"Well, yes, I think. They come from ores. I'm pretty sure they're considered very similar to stones." He looked at her puzzled.

"Why doesn't the silver have a pulse?" Sagaku asked herself, standing up and pacing back and forth like she did whenever she wanted to really think. Her fingers touched the one chopstick left in her hair. "The bronze doesn't either." They went to one of her necklaces. "Neither does gold." Another necklace. "Or copper."

Her hair tumbled loose as she pulled the chopstick out, holding in front of her to truly examine it. Maybe she couldn't feel the metals because they weren't a part of her like the stones were. Or maybe it was just another level of knowledge she hadn't reached yet.

"I need to be alone." She mumbled, turning into Hiei's room and shutting the door. Hiei and Kurama watched her curiously. She hadn't wanted to be alone once this entire time.

Sagaku rubbed the metal, her brow furrowing as she wondered what it all meant. Could the big secret have something to do with the metal? But she couldn't feel a pulse coming from it at all. It didn't have a whispering, warm feeling like the stones did. It was cold and dead. Her heart was thudding in her still slightly sore chest, beating against her ribcage like a hammer. The stones felt alive to her. She could feel their secrets, their ages, their power. The metal was cold and dead, no more than a malleable harness for the stones. Malleable…

The thoughts fluttered teasingly in Sagaku's head, giving her glimpses of insight and then fading away to hide behind other meaningless words and pictures in her mind. It was driving her nuts. She finally joined Kurama and Hiei back out in the living room, holding the chopstick in front of her and frowning at it as if it were keeping secrets from her. It was.

Sleep wouldn't come to Sagaku that night. She sat on the window sill, away from the two demons who were constantly protecting her. There was something about the metals…It happened by accident the first time. Sagaku was just twisting her chopstick in her hand as she stared out the window wishing she could really feel the metal. The bronze felt warm in her fingers like it did when she handled it too much. She didn't even notice at first, the odd feeling in her fingers and the warm, smooth feeling of something brushing against her palm. When she realized what she was feeling, she looked down. The chopstick was twisted in her hand, the metal smoother and thinner, spread out across her palm.

"You need me," she whispered to the metal, realization finally dawning on her. The dead feeling of the metal wasn't because it wasn't there; it needed the contact like she did. It needed the spark to feed its life force. She tried focusing on it again. Nothing happened. She wrapped her fingers around it, letting them absorb the feeling of the bronze. Then she tried again, this time focusing on her fingers where they met the bronze. The metal began smoothing along her fingers. It was alive, just like the stones!

"Hiei, Kurama!" Sagaku jumped down from the window sill, leaping over the couch to land on top of Hiei as she shook him. He grabbed her throat and almost threw her across the room before he realized who it was. Kurama was rolling over, his hand reaching for his hair reflexively. Sagaku wondered which deadly seed he had been reaching for, but it was a brief thought that left her mind as she glanced back down at the bronze that was spread out over her hand.

"I think I know what they thought Ned and Sam knew." She held out her hand to them, and they both stared at the bronze with no reaction.

"Did it…melt?" Kurama asked, sleep muddling his voice.

"Hn. It's not melted." Hiei looked at it closer, curiously.

"Here, watch." Sagaku closed her eyes, focusing on where her skin met the metal again, feeding her pulse to the metal. It began stretching again, reaching to cover her hand. It fit against her, around the rings, like a glove. She began sliding it up her arm, watching it melt away from her fingers. When her concentration was beginning to waver, she collected it into her hand again, forcing it back into the shape of a chopstick. It surrounded its gem protectively, cradling it back into its hold.

"That's amazing." Kurama was astounded, watching the metal intently. The bronze had moved like it was truly alive.

"Why would that be worth killing two demons and targeting someone who was protected by three demons and a human with high spirit energy?" Hiei asked, pointing out that it didn't exactly seem like a reason to threaten so many powerful beings.

"What's in the blood of everything? Humans and demons! And just think, if they could get their hands on this kind of power, they could literally move mountains!" Sagaku said excitedly.

"You think it would work on the iron in someone's blood?" Kurama asked in disbelief. "Is there enough for it to work?"

"No, not without an amplifier. But I'm Hanshoku, I can tap into the perfect amplifier." Sagaku touched the small white stud in her nose. "Name another kind of demon that can use stones the way I do. The message was aimed at me, Botan said, so it has to be something I can do that no one else can."

"Onna, that actually makes sense." Hiei was wide awake now, too, and processing everything she said. It would explain everything.

"Now we just need to know who it is looking for you, and how they found Ned and Sam." Kurama mused out loud, scratching his chin.

"They're scholars. Have they written any books about stones? Maybe they were tracked because of publications." Sagaku's thoughts were moving at warp speed now that she'd finally found a direction for them.

"The book about Hanshoku, fox, do you remember who wrote it?" Hiei asked Kurama urgently. Kurama shook his head helplessly.

"I did some research on the demon who wrote it, but that demon was dead. It wasn't a male demon. It couldn't have been them." Kurama protested.

"It could have been Ned's mother. She was Hanshoku. She would have been able to write an entire book on us." Sagaku said, sinking to down onto the floor to sit. There was a frown on her lips again, as there had been so frequently lately. Hiei turned away. He didn't like the look of her forehead all wrinkled anxiously.


	30. Anger

**I really should just finish posting all of this at once, since I'm done writing it….but, I prefer making you guys wait and suffer =] At least I get out multiple chapters a day, though, right? Doesn't that almost make up for it? I think it should. And just in case anyone has forgotten (which I seriously doubt) YYH isn't mine (puppy eyes didn't work) so I'm stuck with the Warren characters. Appreciate, all. And just know that soon…everything will tie together…sort of. I think there's roughly four or five chapters left, but I might add just a little bit more. Or maybe a few stand-alone chapters or something. I don't know yet.**

**Enjoy!**

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* * *

Of Course Bunnies Have Tempers**

"I don't think it all makes sense yet." Kurama moved so he was facing the rabbit demon. "Even with an amplifier, wouldn't you have to be in strict contact with a person to control the iron in their blood?"

"That's what I was just thinking," she admitted quietly, "I just know it has something to do with the metal and that's the first conclusion I came to."

"We'll figure it out." Hiei said even more quietly. The onna reached out, her fingers entwining with his own. He didn't pull his hand away, although he almost did when he saw the fox's narrowed eyes. He could feel the onna's pulse though, fluttering, panicking…and he wanted to slow it down. Or speed it up, but for another reason.

Sagaku started pulling away from the others, though she didn't notice it at first. She was just so engrossed in learning to use the metal. At first, she could only control it by moving it across her body. Quickly, though, she began learning how to control it even if she was moving it away from her body. When she asked Kurama to draw her some diagrams, explaining some of the different moves with a whip, he realized what she was trying to do.

"I need to get more metal." Sagaku confronted Kurama and Hiei one day. She had just come out of the shower, and her hair was dripping water down her body and all over the floor. Hiei almost winced.

"How come?" Kurama asked curiously, gesturing at all the jewelry held by metal clasps and whatnot on her body.

"Because the stones work best if they're close to me, and if I use the metal holding them up they'll fall. I need to get metal separate from my stones." Her eyes were unfocused, already trying to figure out how she could wear more metal. She was already wearing so much jewelry…

"I'll go find something," Kurama assured her. "Hiei, you stay here and guard her."

* * *

The fire demon was getting bored of watching the girl manipulate the metal in her hands, but when he stood beside her, as close as he ever had before, she just looked up at him for a second, and then went back to staring at the metal strand growing in her hand, a twisted mixture of bronze, gold, silver, and copper. He narrowed his sanguine eyes at her. She hadn't been acting normal at all since her discovery of the metal. Even when Kurama forced food on her, she didn't really pay attention. It wasn't normal. She had even taken to sleeping in his room, away from them.

"Onna," Hiei said to her, "something's wrong with you." He was hoping to provoke a response from her. He got it.

"What's wrong with me?" The shorter demon hissed at him her hands falling to her sides. "You think that because I want to avenge the two people who taught me everything worth knowing something is _wrong_?"

"Since when have you ever gotten angry?" Hiei asked her, smirking in victory. Sagaku snarled at him, not wanting to think about it. He was right though, she had no temper to speak of, and yet here she was snarling…

"Of course I'm angry!" She snapped at him, turning away and lifting her hands with the strands of chains in them. Hiei smacked them down.

"What are you angry at?" He asked her viciously, dodging her fist as she finally gave in to the violent urges that had been screaming at her.

"Right now, at you!" She yelled at him, going to kick him. He dodged that, too.

"No, that's not right." He hissed in her ear from behind. She spun on him, her hand flying out. She expected him to dodge it. This time, though, he caught it and jerked her to him, knocking her off balance.

"Trust me, that's it right now." Sagaku yelped as he rammed her against a wall. She snapped her foot out, knocking him away from her. He moved too quickly for her to see, his hands to her shoulders as he pinned her to the wall, off the ground.

"Stop lying to yourself, onna." He growled, glaring up at her. "You're mad at yourself, and you think if you can figure out whatever mystery it is that they left behind it will make it all better."

Sagaku snorted, wrapping one leg around his side as she tried to knock him off balance.

"I'm mad at myself? You think you know me so well? You don't know anything about me!" She glared and forced herself not to wince when he pushed her harder against the wall.

"You send thoughts flying around the rooms so often it's all I can do not to hear them." Hiei sneered. Of course, it wasn't entirely true. She did broadcast exceptionally clear, but when she wore the stones he only caught one or two stray thoughts. And that's when he was trying. "I know you think it's your fault that those two scholars were tracked down. I know you want to kill the demon that hurt them, and you think if you can just figure out the metal you'll have it all solved. But it's not going to bring them back. You're just fooling yourself."

Sagaku howled in fury, and swung her other leg up, pressing her thighs against his ribs. Hiei snarled, moving his grip closer to her throat.

"Admit it, onna!" He yelled at her. "Admit that you're angry at yourself."

"You think I'm only angry at myself?" She snapped back at him, kicking him. He didn't relinquish his grip. "Did it not occur to you that I'm angry at you, too? And Koenma? And even Kurama? I'm angry at all of you." She hissed, with venom in her voice. It was all true.

"Why? Why be angry at us?" Hiei asked furiously.

"Because!" She kicked him again. "All you guys can think to do is _protect_ me! As if I need your protection! No one thought to ask me how I felt about the situation! All you guys want to do is stop the killer from getting what he wants, no matter that it's _me_ and I have _feelings_! And you're worse than anyone else! You say it meant nothing, but then you're always staring at me as if I can't notice, and yelling at me if I get to close to 'the fox' and all because you think I'm a possession. I can't help being Hanshoku, but I'm not going to be some tool, Hiei." And then the tears started coming again, just as they had when she learned her two scholarly friends had died. Her legs fell away from his sides, dangling against the wall.

Hiei let his grip fall from her shoulders, and she slumped to the ground. He reached uncertainly for her, but she dodged away from him, running for the apartment door. And he let her, because he didn't know what else to do.

* * *

Kurama was furious when he returned to the apartment to find one demon and not the other. He was even more furious when he realized that Hiei was doing nothing to find Sagaku, just sitting at the window sill and staring outside with his deadly glare.

Sagaku was at the park, wondering if she even had anywhere else to be. The tears had stopped falling a while ago, but now her face was sticky with tears, and she didn't relish the feeling at all. She had never cried, not even once, when she was back at the Warren. Sometimes it felt like now that she was no longer sheltered all she wanted to do was cry. She could feel Kurama's energy, somewhere nearby. Maybe if she hadn't been so focused on that, making sure he stayed near, she would have noticed the other energy presence in front of her. Then again, maybe not, because Harou was excellent at camouflaging his demonic traces. All Sagaku knew was that Kurama didn't use water to fight, and there was water around her nose and mouth, and she was drowning in it. Even as her pulse called to the different stones around her body she found herself passing out.


	31. Questions to Questions

**I think I'll finish posting all of the chapters by the end of tonight. Then, on to the next one! I've already got an okay character going, but I'll admit it's a little weird because I'm still in the habit of writing about Sagaku and Hiei. So just wait, my little darlings, if you're interested to see what pops out of my head next =]**

**YYH = Madness, and that madness unfortunately is not mine :'(**

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* * *

Houston, We Have a Problem**

Kurama had been keeping an eye on Sagaku from a distance, afraid to approach her in the only few minutes of solace she had gotten in so long. When her energy suddenly disappeared from his senses, he ran to where she had last been. There was a puddle of water and a Serpentine anklet, but no Hanshoku and no other demon in sight.

* * *

Sagaku was barely conscious, and feeling extraordinarily nauseous. The demon carrying her seemed to be talking to someone else.

"We have to get all the stones away from her, first." He kept saying repeatedly. The someone else was arguing – not about stealing her jewelry, but about whether or not it was okay to scent her.

"Hisakata!" The demon that had partially drowned her snapped at his accomplice. "Shut up and help me get these stones off her! She can use them to fight."

"Jitsu says it's all bullshit, and there's no way those two fools had researched the right demons. He says none of the other girls have shown any sign of power at all, unless you want to talk about large breasts and hips…" Hisakata laughed in a low, gravelly way. Sagaku groaned, coughing up a small amount of water. It stung her throat, tasting of salt. "You worry too much, Harou," Hisakata prodded the semi-conscious form, "she's out of it."

"Just get the stones off of her." Harou said, exasperated. Sagaku could feel the weight of her jewelry slowly leaving her limbs after Harou placed her on a cold floor. She felt one of them move her hair away from her ears, and then heard a sharp whistle.

"Damn, look at all of these." There was a sharp tug that sent pain spiraling through her. She almost fell unconscious again.

"Hisakata, don't be a moron. There's a clasp in the back. You have to take that off first."

"Oh. Where else do you think she has these?" All of the stones were leaving her body, but Sagaku couldn't find the energy to care. There was another whistle, and one of the demons caressed her stomach. "Look!" It was Hisakata again. "Where's the clasp on this one?"

"Have you ever been in the human world? You twist it off. I swear, if you weren't such a good fighter I never would have asked you to come with me." Harou was obviously not too patient, at least not at the moment. "Now get all the jewelry out of here, she's coming to." There was a pause as Sagaku moaned again, shifting. Her stomach felt like it was moving.

"Wait," Hisakata said. She felt her skirt being shifted up an inch or so. "Look, you missed one! And you called me the moron." His hands moved against her skin in an uncomfortably personal way as he searched for the clasp on the garnet brace she had around her thigh. She was finally aware enough to open her eyes, and she tried to move away from him. Someone else kept her pinned down.

"About time you woke up." Harou's voice said from above her. She peered up at him, trying to make out his features. Her eyes couldn't focus. "It'll be a few minutes before you can finally control yourself again. In the meantime, you can answer some questions." She was beginning to see a blue blob where his voice was coming from. Hisakata was still stroking her thigh. "Hisakata, stop that you fool! You're not allowed to do that, not yet."

"Not yet?" Sagaku tried talking, surprised at the hoarse voice that escaped her throat.

"It stings, doesn't it? I've always rather enjoyed the feel of the ocean, but I keep hearing it's unpleasant to drown in." The blue blob above Sagaku turned out to be Harou's hair. His eyes were sea-foam-green. His skin was more tanned than hers, but he didn't look like he spent much time in the sun. He looked much more like an indoors kind of guy, especially with the impressive, non-wrinkled, button-up shirt he wore.

"So you want me to answer questions, but you won't answer mine?" Sagaku asked him.

"Jitsu told me you never stop with your stupid questions." Harou observed. "Did you study with Nenriki and Shoseki?"

"I wasn't sure I'd heard properly the first time. You know my family?" Sagaku ignored his question just as he had ignored hers.

"He knows all of them, although he knows Usagi particularly well." Hisakata snorted from somewhere near her feet. She felt her leg twitch although she didn't kick him. Not yet, anyways.

"Answer the question, breeder." Harou ordered her. She twisted her head to the side, trying to see the room she was in. It was glass, of all things, but she could see it was at least two feet thick.

"Why a glass room?" She asked, curiously. "I mean, you kidnapped me. I feel like a dungeon or a bedroom or a dirt hole would be so much more appropriate."

"Too hackneyed." Hisakata snorted again. His hand was rubbing around her ankle and foot.

"Hisakata, leave the room." Harou said, exasperated again. Hisakata sighed, but he stood up and moved toward the door. Sagaku didn't get a chance to see his eye color, but his hair was a pale gray color. It almost looked white.

"Now, breeder, pay attention. Answer my questions. How did those two fools learn the technique?" Harou pulled her face back to him so she would stop examining the perfectly clear room.

"Which technique?" Sagaku asked although she had no intentions of answering his questions.

"They knew how to use it in more than one way?" Harou asked, astounded.

"Knew how to use what in more than one way?" Sagaku didn't know if she was just trying to get under his skin or if she was truly curious. Either way, he lifted her head and smashed it against the floor before he stalked out of the room. Sagaku pulled herself up, groaning. The glass hadn't even cracked.

Sagaku stood and strode to the glass door, wondering if it could even lock. She saw Hisakata though, standing on the outside of the door. The glass made his form seem larger than life. He entered the room again, but Sagaku ignored him as she observed the giant hall the glass room – or cage, as she was beginning to realize – sat in.

"So, little rabbit, you must be terrified being all alone and away from everyone else. You don't even have your stones to play with. You know, no one even really thinks you can use them except for Harou and his stupid little slut." Hisakata seemed overly talkative, Sagaku decided. At least he wasn't asking questions, though. She was sick of the interrogatives. He had a bushy tail, several shades darker than his hair, and it was waving back and forth slowly. There were matching ears, perking forward in an interested manner from the top of his head. She looked into his flinty grey eyes and took in a strong breath of air.

"You're a wolf." She realized. He grinned, showing her his sharpened canines.

"I bet your heart is beating really fast right now." He took another step towards her. She refused to back down. She was afraid, but not of this grey demon. "I love the way rabbits smell," he told her, circling behind her, "Your scent is absolutely mouth-watering. I bet you make demons like me salivate when you're in heat."

"Nah, only the retarded ones drool. It generally doesn't get them anywhere." Sagaku wondered how wise it was to make the demon angry, but it didn't seem smart to play dead either. The grey demon only grinned again, bending his face over hers.

"How many young have you had?" He asked her, his hand feeling her stomach. Sagaku rolled her eyes, and pushed his hand away.

"Do I look like a breeder to you? Someone my size can't have young." She lied to him, wondering if she would break through his odd demeanor.

"That's not what Jitsu told us." Hisakata grinned, and stroked her hair. The chopstick had been taken with the rest of her jewelry. She was beginning to wish her two dead friends had talked her into more piercings – piercings these two goons wouldn't have found.

"What does my father have to do with any of this?" Sagaku asked, stepping back from the wolf. He took a step forward, his fingers tracing her face.

"When we heard there was a warren around, we paid him a visit. As it turns out your father is some crazy sound demon, wanted by a big part of the Makai. He used to fight with Koenma, the stupid bastard. He convinced us he had changed his ways, and offered us a token of good will." Hisakata's hand wandered to her throat, brushing against a pressure point warningly. "Then, when Harou did a little bit of research, he realized that Jitsu's missing daughter might be the key to his plans. And so here you are."

"What plans?" Sagaku asked warily. His hands were beginning to drop lower. She hoped this wasn't going where she thought it might be.

"Jitsu doesn't think you can possibly know any techniques." Hisakata ignored her question. "I agree. You smell just like a rabbit…a terrified little bunny. I've never hunted a rabbit that could fight back and I don't think it'll ever happen." His hand went where she suspected it had been headed. She pulled away, spinning out of his reach.

"Ah ah, Hisakata already has a breeder. You're mine." Hisakata licked his lips and advanced on her. Her stomach was twisting in horrible ways. "What do you think, a son so I can start my own pack, or a female to make me some money?" His grey eyes glanced down at her stomach. She used the momentary distraction to kick him as hard as she'd ever kicked anyone. If he flew any higher into the air she would have thought he was a bird.


	32. Communication

**I know, I'm just kicking the chapters out today. I hope you all appreciate it =P**

*****And for the record, I could use some help! I need a nifty title for my next story (with Kurama) and I want it to have something to do with ice or being cold or stony, or something like that. I was thinking "Ice Penalty" but it just doesn't sound as fun as "Into the Rabbit's Den." So, if you have any ideas you should throw them by me. I'll obviously give you credit if you come up with the title I end up using, or the title that gives me the epiphany I'm searching for, so think about it! Thanks ^.^ (Maybe "Half Full of Ice"? I don't know if I like that one either.)**

**Still, despite all three wishes the genie gave me, don't own YYH.**

**

* * *

Playing Cocky, Feeling Kinda Scared**

"You think you're the first person who has tried to use me like that?" Sagaku surprised him by grinning. Sure, she was trapped in a glass room, but the thought of the metal had given her an idea. After all, what was glass but fired sand? And what was sand if not crushed stones? If she could use metal, which had no pulse, then why couldn't she use glass?

Hisakata snarled at her, his hands forming long claws, and fur breaking out over his body. He charged again, but Sagaku spun and aimed a forceful kick at him. He went spinning to the side, and she started focusing on the glass walls. There was no pulse, no feel as there had been with the metal. There had to be something there, though…

When she felt a strange tickling feeling at the bottom of her feet, she realized the glass was feeding off her energy. Hisakata managed to scratch her before she punched him back again. More and more energy was draining from her feet. He came charging at her again, but she raised her hands and glass sprung up from the ground between them. The wolf demon managed to impale himself on a sharp edge, but he drew back warily, circling her.

"That's not what the books said you could do." He snarled. Harou was back in the hall and he was feeling more confident. He flew at her again, but more glass exploded in front of him. Water swept at her, whipping across her face. Harou was in the glass room as well now. She pushed her hand, palm out, at him. Glass shards flew at him like daggers. He swept his arm up, a water shield knocking the glass aside. Hisakata tried to get close enough to rip at her with his claws again. She kicked him back, pouring more of her energy into the glass.

The two demons circled around her, one ready to charge at her, and the other ready to terrorize her with water. She didn't want to fall to either of them. When Hisakata dodged at her again she sent glass flying at Harou, suspecting the wolf demon was trying to distract her. She rolled out of his way, and sent more glass spiraling into his stomach. She spun back to Harou, waiting to see what the next move would be. It wasn't until the water started curling up her legs that she realized it was too late. And she had already given the glass too much of her energy to try anything else…she slowly began blacking out again.

* * *

Something on Sagaku's arm stung really badly. It was bad enough that it filtered through her dreams until she began to sluggishly wake up to a familiar scent.

"What're you doin'?" Sagaku slurred, trying to swat her sister's hand away. Whatever she was doing, it hurt.

"Stop it, Sagaku." A harsh voice ordered her. Sagaku ignored her and tried to stand up. She was strapped down. "If you don't let me finish cleaning this, your arm might rot off. Hisakata doesn't exactly wash his claws."

"What are you doing here?" Sagaku asked. She couldn't seem to make herself wake up all the way, but at least if she focused she didn't slur…too badly.

"Exactly what is proper for us to do. You broke your promise to me." Usagi hissed venomously. Sagaku wished she could pretend to wrack her brain, as if there had never been a promise, but she remembered it very clearly…and it hadn't even lasted a whole day.

"I'm not sorry." Sagaku muttered. "Wouldn't wanna end up here."

"You ended up here anyways, you twit." Usagi said, and then proceeded to wrap up her arm with clean linen. "Just wait until Papa finds out."

Sagaku fell silent, leaning her head back. She felt entirely drained, and while a part of her was whispering that she should be shocked at seeing her sister again, she just couldn't dredge up the energy. All she could think of was the fact that the pain in her arm wasn't going away, and for some odd reason the only pulse she could feel was her own…

* * *

When Sagaku was finally one hundred percent clear-headed, she realized she was no longer being treated by Usagi. She wondered if her sister had even been there. It may have been some mind trick, or even a hallucination. There was nothing recognizable around her – her wrists were being held to the wall behind her by something cold. She couldn't turn around and see it, but she was reasonably sure it was metal. Well, she hoped it was metal. The room was dark, and even straining her eyes she couldn't see past the dark shapes around her. Her nose was working fine, though, and she knew she was alone. At the moment, anyways.

What had Ned and Sam died for? The thought was plaguing her mind all over again. Everyone had assumed that the attackers knew of some mysterious technique…and yet they interrogated her. Asking her about techniques and anything the two mates might have learned. But if they had known something important, they would have told her, wouldn't they?

_**Onna…**_

Sagaku froze, her nose stopping mid-sniff. She looked around carefully again, hoping one of the dark objects would move. Who was in the room? But she couldn't hear anyone breathing…Maybe the call had come from outside. It had been extraordinarily faint.

_**…ait and we…e the…**_

The noise came again. Sagaku's heart started picking up speed and force. Something was in her head. There was a _voice. _There was a voice _inside_ her head. That wasn't natural.

* * *

"I don't know." Hiei responded shortly to Kurama's question. It was true – he didn't know if the stupid rabbit demon had heard him. He was speaking in her head, theoretically, but it was a long distance. And not only was it a long distance, there seemed to be some ward around her, although it didn't feel the protection of her stones.

"Is she hurt?" Kuwabara asked worriedly. He had an arm around Yukina's shoulder but he was leaning forward anxiously. Keiko was pale and leaning against Yusuke, who had finally stopped cussing, for the moment at least. Genkai didn't even have any suggestions this time. Yes, they obviously had to rescue her before she spawned demon armies, but how? They knew her location and they had a description of one of the demons there. That was it.

Hiei was seething at the idea of any other demon – scratch that, any other male, but _especially_ demon – touching the onna. It was true, he had kept telling her it meant nothing, but there was just something there that he wanted to protect. Maybe it was her absolute trust in everyone, or her stupid, annoying questions. It could even be the ridiculous stones she wore and wielded like shields, or the way she was always trying to push close to people. It was like she was a magnet. A naïve, hopelessly happy magnet. And he had pissed her off until she ran out. It was his fault she had been stolen.

* * *

Hisakata was leaving the dark room, injured but happy. Sagaku groaned from the ground. She had been right; it was metal around her wrists. She had even managed to coax it from the walls to form heavy gloves around her hands when the Wolf came sniffing. He hadn't given her a chance to use the impressive, innovative weapon. Instead, he left her with more bruises, and the promise that as soon as Harou gave him the okay, she would become the mother she wanted to be. Because obviously, as a breeder, there could be nothing else filling up her empty head. She was hoping that if she swallowed enough metal it would kill her before it ever got that far.

Harou leaned against the wall, light pouring into the generally dark room. Sagaku hoped he didn't think she was wincing because of the light. It was a weak form of torture.

"So breeder, have you remembered anything yet?" Harou asked casually, picking under his nails. She decided to continue her annoying little game with him.

"Were you born with blue hair or do you continuously fall into paint buckets?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. It had been at least two days – her body was definitely holding the missed meals against her.

"Don't get smart with me," Harou said patiently, "just answer the question." Sagaku didn't say anything. She may be incurably curious, but Harou was incurably hasty. He would start freaking out long before she did. "Well?" He demanded, proving her point.

"Well what?" Sagaku rolled over. She hadn't bothered standing when he entered the room. She had tried physical attacks, and sadly they had all failed miserably. She was an okay fighter, theoretically, but without the stones she had no upper hand. Heck, all she had was a heavy kick, and Harou had gotten really decent at dodging those.


	33. Drowning

**Ah, the joys of publishing chapters. So rewarding. Even more so when people read them =P **

**Still asking for ideas for a title…so if you don't always read the bold print, you should skip back a chapter and check out what I said there…please?**

**And, as per usual, I do not own YYH.**

**

* * *

A Quick and Easy Rescue Makes You Wonder**

"So are you getting anywhere with my mate?" Hisakata asked from the hallway, stepping into the room. It looked like a storage room, with heavy boxes placed around randomly. Sagaku suspected it was – obviously the glass prison they had tried was just a giant weapon for her. So much for thinking ahead.

"Mate?" Harou sneered incredulously, turning his sea-foam eyes on the demoness who was currently puckering her lips as she stared at the ceiling. "Hisakata, you fool, you don't _mate_ with Hanshoku. They're breeders. They're not worth the status of a mate." His gaze was contemptuous on her. She ignored him.

Even though she was ignoring Harou as he insulted her, he wasn't ignoring the shivers that kept wracking her body. It was cold in the room, especially since it was always dark. Pretty soon she would crack, just to be out in the warmth again. He hadn't done his research for nothing. And pretty soon she would explain to him how it would work, when she tore through the worlds' barriers.

_**Onna, are you even listening to me?**_

There it was – that snarky voice was in her head again. This time, when Sagaku shivered it wasn't the cold. She recognized that voice, and she recognized the uncomfortable press of someone else in her head.

_Hiei…? Is this because of the third eye? Because it's kind of freaking me out. If it's not you, does that mean I'm going insane?_ Sagaku thought it tentatively, trying to address it to Hiei. It was a weird thought, communicating solely in her head. It really wasn't natural.

_**Be ready. And…are you…**_

But whatever the supposed Hiei in her head had been going to ask, he changed his mind, pulling away. Harou was watching her carefully, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Salt water was streaming in ribbons around him, and some of those streaming ribbons were headed at her. Sagaku clenched her eyes shut. This was her least favorite part of his questioning. He truly thought shoving water into her mouth and nose would make her tell. It might have, if she knew what he wanted her to tell him, but since she didn't she half-drowned in misery with no way to stop it. Even Hisakata and his rough touched, sharp claws, didn't scare her as much as the salt water did.

"You're just a scared little rabbit." Harou knelt beside her, whispering. Hisakata knelt on the other side, his hand stroking her hair.

"Too bad she doesn't have the ears. They're my favorite part to eat on rabbits…better than chips." Hisakata laughed, his claws tracing small lines of blood across the ridge of her ear. Sagaku ignored him, concentrating on keeping her heart beat slow. The more she panicked, the worse the feel of the salt water in her body got. No matter that her mind was whispering about just swallowing the water, letting it take care of her for good, she directed her body to do otherwise. She wasn't going to give up.

"Harou?" A scared voice called from the hallway. It was Usagi. Harou stood up, the water streaming out of Sagaku's nose and mouth. She coughed pathetically, her throat ragged and sore. Her sister was standing in the doorway, eyes wide open and mouth forming an 'o.'

"Go back to your quarters. You're not supposed to be in the main house." Harou said snootily. Hisakata chuckled, sounding more like a hyena than a wolf. His sharp claws were tracing light patterns along Sagaku's skin. She ignored the pain – it was much easier to ignore the slight sting of physical pain than it was to ignore the burning water, blocking off her air, blinding her…

"But, s-sir…there are two dead demons in front of…" Harou backhanded Usagi, sending her reeling back into the wall. Her breast rose and fell quickly as she panted, her eyes wide. She went to scurry off, but Harou was still angry. He was angry at Sagaku, but Usagi was there and convenient. He went to hit her again.

"Don't think so," Sagaku wheezed, struggling to get to her feet. Hisakata laughed and knocked her back down. She struggled to her knees. He clutched the back of her head, grinning at the implication. She could hear Usagi whimper, and the sound of another hit. "I don't think so." She repeated, head-butting Hisakata as hard as she could. The wolf demon yelped loudly, letting go of her with a start to clutch his privates. Sagaku rose unsteadily to her feet, still hacking up remnants of the salt water. Harou had Usagi's arm behind her back, twisting it painfully. There was an angry snapping sound as the bone broke. Usagi gasped, turned white and then faintly green, and slumped in Harou's hold. He lowered her gently to the floor, caressing her stomach before turning. He turned into Sagaku's bony fist.

"You have no right to touch her." Sagaku hissed at him, paying no heed to the cracking and wheezing that came out when she tried to speak.

"I have every right I paid for." Harou went to snag Sagaku around the throat. She disappeared in a blurred movement, and landed over Usagi, behind him. She wheeled and kicked. He went slamming into the opposite wall. Hisakata was stumbling out of the dark room, his flinty grey eyes sparking with pain and fury. Sagaku crouched over Usagi, keeping her eye on her prey.

"A rabbit that fights will just die sooner than the rabbit that runs." Hisakata snarled, his face elongating slightly as his tail swished behind him angrily.

"You are going to die slowly after you open up the tunnel through the three worlds." Harou said quietly. There was a small trickle of blood coming from his nose.

"You won't touch her." Sagaku hoped it wasn't an illusion, because if she was seeing things right, that was a silver-haired fox standing behind the blue-haired freak. And if that was the silver fox she thought it was, the black-haired demon next to him who was glaring murderously at the silver-haired wolf was going to make the two fools pay their dues.

"Weren't you supposed to wait for us, Saga?" Yusuke asked snidely, stepping into view. He pushed an unconscious demon over as he went. Kuwabara was behind him, grinning broadly as he wielded a large, blazing sword.

Most of the movements were too fast for Sagaku to see, once the fight actually started. There was one scary move where Hisakata threw Yusuke up at the high ceiling. He whirled on Sagaku and Usagi, who was still unconscious, in a raging cloud of teeth and claws. Inches from Sagaku, he was stopped by a brutal hit with a katana. Hiei forced the wolf demon to attack him instead, getting between the two girls and the danger. Sagaku couldn't make her heart beat any faster if she wanted to.

Kuwabara took out a large portion of one of the walls with his sword in an attempt to slash the water demon. It was Yusuke who took him down in the end though, with a well aimed spirit blast. Hisakata sank to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, wrapped tightly in Kurama's whip with Hiei's katana sticking out of his throat.

"Onna." Hiei turned to the trembling girl. She looked empty without the many stones she usually wore.

Youko Kurama knelt at Sagaku's feet, prodding at Usagi.

"She…fainted." He observed.

"Her arm is broken." Sagaku said wearily, falling back against the remaining wall.

"Obviously." The taller – much taller – demon blinked at her owlishy.

"Stupid scum," Yusuke muttered vehemently. He had a long scratch going down the side of his face. Kuwabara nodded in agreement.

"I thought they were supposed to be super strong." Kuwabara complained out loud, rubbing his arms. He was bleeding a little, too.

"Ned and Sam were amazing fighters, together. I guess…they must have died apart." Sagaku muttered, the cold all around her sinking in further. She closed her eyes, wondering if she was going insane. They had come and rescued her. Right? What if it was just some dream, something her mind had concocted as an escape from the stinging water.

An arm hesitantly slipped around her. The heat was inescapable, a welcome relief as Sagaku breathed in the faint smell of smoke. Someone shifted Usagi, picking the curvaceous girl up.

"Come on, let's get out of here before whatever tore up that glass tank tears us up to." Yusuke decided, his footsteps heavy and loud as he turned to walk past the rubble.

"I'd like to see it try! We could take it down!" Kuwabara crowed, running to follow Yusuke, his adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"Onna," Hiei's voice was quiet, his mouth close to her bleeding ear, "are you okay?"

"Am I drowning?" Sagaku asked hoarsely. The fire demon swung her up, moving her out of the hall. Kurama was carrying the unconscious Hanshoku, the one with the distended stomach.

"Hn. I've got you, you're not drowning." Hiei frowned at the girl, even though her eyes weren't open to see him. She wasn't even leaning into him, or snuggling. She just lay limply in his arms.

"Good," she mumbled, "Because I don't think I like water anymore."


	34. Everything

**The last chapter! Kind of, anyways. I think I'm going to do a few stand-alone chapters, some to explain or add a little more to Hiei and Sagaku, and some to explain a little more about the Hanshoku and whatnot. So if you think you might be interested in reading chapters like that, let me know. I'm not going to write detailed lemons though, mostly because I think it's kind of silly when you already know what they're up to. She is a rabbit after all ;)**

**YYH is still not mine. Won't be, ever, thus my tears.**

**

* * *

What Does It Mean?**

"We can't trace down your father yet, but we're still working on it." Koenma said into the briefcase screen Botan had brought with her. Sagaku had finally gotten her own apartment, not wanting to put Keiko in danger again. Botan was there to help her settle in and report to Koenma. Talking still hurt a little, due to the copious amounts of salt water that had ended up in her system, but she refused to take another day 'recovering.'

"And the second we find where he is, we're taking him into custody." Kurama smiled from next to Sagaku. He had come before his classes to check out her apartment and to make sure she was okay. It had only been one day since they got back, but Sagaku seemed to be bouncing back rather quickly, except she had the annoying tendency to answer all questions with another question now. "And we'll figure out how to take care of all your sisters. They might even have to go to school, here."

Botan left very soon after Sagaku finished her report to Koenma. The blue-haired reaper had given the Hanshoku girl a very large hug, promising to check up on Usagi. Usagi was at Genkai's temple to heal and so if she had a son they could train it before it took after its father. Sagaku sighed, looking around the mostly empty apartment. She really didn't have enough belongings to truly warrant two bedrooms and two bathrooms, but it was an empty apartment that the landlord had been willing to let her move into right away. Until Usagi healed, it would be lonely, supposing Usagi wanted to move in with her.

"I have a surprise for you." Kurama grinned down at the slightly moody Hanshoku, his hand reaching for an oddly shaped lump in his jacket.

"What is it?" Sagaku asked curiously, trying to reach into his jacket to grab it first. He laughed, knocking her hand away, and pulling out a lumpy red bag.

"Something I couldn't help but filch when we were rescuing you." Kurama grinned impishly. Sagaku had decided that she much preferred him when he was more human than foxy, and she grabbed the bag eagerly, leaning against her red-headed (now) friend.

"My stones!" She gasped happily, reaching into her bag. There was a large coil of plain wire in the bag too. She looked at his for a minute, before smiling up at the taller redhead, reaching her arms around him to give him a giant hug. He hugged her back, glad to see her smile again.

"Hey, Kurama," the smile was fading from Sagaku's face as she pulled away from the fox, turning to face him fully.

"Yes?" He asked, a small frown gracing his face as he wondered what was causing her unhappiness.

"Does…Does Hiei care? About me, I mean?" She asked, her face scrunching up in a mix between embarrassment and fear. Kurama didn't answer right away, and thought back to everything he had seen since they had been assigned to take care of all seventeen of the Hanshoku.

"I think he does." Kurama glanced at his watch, realizing his classes would be starting soon. "But maybe you should ask him that yourself. It might be something you guys need to discuss."

He gave the still slightly-nervous girl a brotherly kiss on the top of her head, and another hug, before he left for his classes. Sagaku stood staring at the bag of her jewelry blindly, her mind racing through the terrifying thoughts in her head. Hearing Hiei's voice in her head, when Harou and Hisakata had been so intent on hurting her…hearing his voice had been more than relieving. It had been comforting, promising. It had brought back some of her confidence.

"I think you're supposed to put those on, onna." The demon of her thoughts was standing at the door Kurama had walked out of. He shut it behind him, his bright red eyes going over the girl's appearance. She was still disheveled, and there were small, paper thin cuts in various places.

"Hiei," Sagaku said in a small voice. Her thoughts had come to a screeching halt.

"You smell horrible. You need to take a shower." He grunted, wrinkling his nose in distaste. It was true – she smelt like the fox and the two dead demons, plus the smell of the musty, dark room still clung to her. She reeked.

"I can't." Sagaku said meekly, clutching the bag of stones to her chest.

"Why not?" Hiei challenged, wondering if she was angry at him for being the catalyst of the entire event. She didn't seem to be.

"I don't want to be in the water." Her already quiet voice came out even quieter, a personal admittance.

"Onna, you have to clean sooner or later." Hiei started to growl, but corrected his voice to normal before he finished chiding the stupid rabbit. She was quivering again.

"Dun wanna." She muttered stubbornly. He was suddenly in front of her, removing the bag from her clutch gently and placing it on the kitchen counter.

"You reek." He told her. He put a hand on each of her shivering shoulders, pushing her towards the bathroom. She allowed him to, but when he reached for the faucet she grabbed at his hand.

"No," she hissed, "I'll drown."

The fire youkai stared at her for a minute in shock. She thought she was going to drown in the shower? That was…not stupid, he reminded himself. From what he had heard her to explain to the brat, the demons had attempted to extract the information they wanted using water as a form of torture. So it wasn't stupid. He just didn't share the same fear.

"I won't let you drown." He finally told the quivering mass in front of him.

"How do you know?" She questioned him. He reached for the faucet again, and this time she didn't stop him. She did press her shaking form into him though, moving away from the wet substance falling from the silver showerhead. Hiei lifted her into the tub, under the fall of water. He didn't bother undressing her, thinking she would bolt the second the water hit her skin. She just clutched his arm until her fingers were white, refusing to let go. She clenched her eyes shut, refusing to face the water. With a sigh, Hiei stepped in next to her, dropping his cloak on the bathroom floor. He was immediately drenched, his shirt and pants sticking to his body almost as closely as the rabbit demon was.

"I just do." He finally answered her question. He had heard her discussion with Kurama, and with Koenma and Botan before that. The fox had told him to fix things so long ago, and he had said he would. It had taken him a long time to come up with an answer. Sometimes he didn't get the onna, but he didn't mind her being around…he actually enjoyed it. And he really enjoyed "helping" her, when the time came, no matter how careful he had to be to not get the onna pregnant.

Sagaku kept her eyes clenched shut, wincing when Hiei pulled his arms away from her. They were back in a second though, this time with soap that he was scrubbing against her showing skin.

"I don't like the water." She muttered to him again. He actually chuckled, a startling enough sound that Sagaku managed to open her eyes.

"You've told me already, onna." He told her, meeting her startled gaze with a smirk.

"Hiei…" Sagaku said hesitantly, bringing her arms slowly around his waist.

"Hn, yes?" He asked, his red eyes burning into hers.

"Does it mean anything?" Sagaku asked, keeping her gaze on his.

"It means everything." The fire demon answered, tilting his face down to meet her lips a scant inch below his own. It was a gentle kiss, his lips just touching hers. His arms pulled her closer, ignoring the soap getting all over the two of them.

"You're never gentle." Sagaku mumbled, rubbing her head against his chest as they broke the kiss. Hiei chuckled again. He wasn't exactly known for being gentle, usually…but that hadn't been so bad.

"I wouldn't want to hurt my future mate." He said in a low voice, his hands reaching for her face. She looked up at him again, her lips reaching up to meet his in another sweet, gentle kiss. Heat was pouring into her, lighting up veins she didn't even think carried enough blood to get warm.

"Why future?" She asked against his lips. This time the sound Hiei made was somewhere between a chuckle and a growl, and she was being lifted out of the running water.

"It can be now." His smirk was appearing on his face again as he looked down at the even shorter demon in his arms.

"It should be now." Sagaku nodded at him, her hair clinging damply to her face. She smelled of water and soap now, and something a little more…primal and urgent. "I'm Hanshoku, you know. I have needs." She informed him.

"None that I can't take care of." Hiei growled, accepting the challenge with another gentle kiss, despite the need for her that was rising in him, too.

**THE END...MOSTLY.**


End file.
